Quest Diagnostics pays 5M for dumping patient data waste The Register
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ppQuest Diagnostics has agreed to pay almost 5 million to settle allegations it illegally dumped protected health information and hazardous waste at its facilities across CaliforniappThis sum wont hurt at all for the corporation one of the largest clinical medical lab networks in the US In all Quest is being charged slightly less than two days of its 994 million annual profit in 2023 hardly a serious disincentiveppUnder the settlement PDF Quest will pay 3999500 to ten California counties Alameda Los Angeles Monterey Orange Sacramento San Bernardino San Joaquin San Mateo Ventura and Yolo plus give 300000 to environmental projects and an additional 700000 to foot attorneys fees and other costs In exchange it admits no guilt over the matterppIt also agreed to hire an independent environmental auditor to review wastedisposal practices at its facilities and improve processes for handling storage and disposal of medical and hazardous waste as well as personal health information at four laboratories and more than 600 patient service centers in CaliforniappAsked about the California settlement Quest Diagnostics spokesperson Denny Moynihan told The Register on ThursdayppQuest takes patient privacy and the protection of the environment very seriously and has made significant investments to implement industry best practices to ensure hazardous waste medical waste and confidential patient information are disposed of properly These include investing in technologies for treatment of biological waste secured destruction of patient information programs to maximize recycling efforts and minimize wastetolandfill disposal wastetoenergy recovery of nonrecyclable wastes and enhanced waste audit and inspection measures to ensure continued compliance with applicable lawsppThrough our meticulous waste audits it came to light that Quest Diagnostics may have encountered challenges in properly managing confidential patient data medical waste and hazardous materials San Joaquin County district attorney Ron Freitas gushedppOur initial inquiry in San Joaquin County prompted us to engage with the attorney generals office and other relevant partiesppIn total the district attorneys offices said they conducted more than 30 inspections of Quest labs and patient centers across CaliforniappDuring those inspections authorities dug through Quests compactors and dumpsters and said they found hundreds of containers of chemicals as well as bleach reagents batteries electronic waste unredacted medical information medical waste such as used specimen containers for blood and urine and hazardous waste such as used batteries solvents and flammable liquidsppThis waste and data disposal broke hazardous waste law Californias Medical Waste Management Act unfair competition law and civil laws prohibiting the unauthorized disclosure of personal health information prosecutors argued in their court submissions PDFppWhile improperly dumping hazardous waste can have terrible human health and environmental consequences leaving peoples personal records in places where identity thieves can pilfer them even if they have to wade through biowaste to get it isnt particularly ideal eitherppIts bad enough that ransomware crews and other criminals are hitting healthcare facilities to steal protected health records which can be extremely damaging to patients and organizationsppMonterey County district attorney Jeannine Pacioni commented optimistically This settlement will help ensure that patients personally identifiable and private health information is protected and will protect worker safety and human health by ensuring that hazardous and medical wastes are properly managed and disposed of ppSend us newsppThe Register Biting the hand that feeds ITpp
Copyright All rights reserved 19982024
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ppQuest Diagnostics has agreed to pay almost 5 million to settle allegations it illegally dumped protected health information and hazardous waste at its facilities across CaliforniappThis sum wont hurt at all for the corporation one of the largest clinical medical lab networks in the US In all Quest is being charged slightly less than two days of its 994 million annual profit in 2023 hardly a serious disincentiveppUnder the settlement PDF Quest will pay 3999500 to ten California counties Alameda Los Angeles Monterey Orange Sacramento San Bernardino San Joaquin San Mateo Ventura and Yolo plus give 300000 to environmental projects and an additional 700000 to foot attorneys fees and other costs In exchange it admits no guilt over the matterppIt also agreed to hire an independent environmental auditor to review wastedisposal practices at its facilities and improve processes for handling storage and disposal of medical and hazardous waste as well as personal health information at four laboratories and more than 600 patient service centers in CaliforniappAsked about the California settlement Quest Diagnostics spokesperson Denny Moynihan told The Register on ThursdayppQuest takes patient privacy and the protection of the environment very seriously and has made significant investments to implement industry best practices to ensure hazardous waste medical waste and confidential patient information are disposed of properly These include investing in technologies for treatment of biological waste secured destruction of patient information programs to maximize recycling efforts and minimize wastetolandfill disposal wastetoenergy recovery of nonrecyclable wastes and enhanced waste audit and inspection measures to ensure continued compliance with applicable lawsppThrough our meticulous waste audits it came to light that Quest Diagnostics may have encountered challenges in properly managing confidential patient data medical waste and hazardous materials San Joaquin County district attorney Ron Freitas gushedppOur initial inquiry in San Joaquin County prompted us to engage with the attorney generals office and other relevant partiesppIn total the district attorneys offices said they conducted more than 30 inspections of Quest labs and patient centers across CaliforniappDuring those inspections authorities dug through Quests compactors and dumpsters and said they found hundreds of containers of chemicals as well as bleach reagents batteries electronic waste unredacted medical information medical waste such as used specimen containers for blood and urine and hazardous waste such as used batteries solvents and flammable liquidsppThis waste and data disposal broke hazardous waste law Californias Medical Waste Management Act unfair competition law and civil laws prohibiting the unauthorized disclosure of personal health information prosecutors argued in their court submissions PDFppWhile improperly dumping hazardous waste can have terrible human health and environmental consequences leaving peoples personal records in places where identity thieves can pilfer them even if they have to wade through biowaste to get it isnt particularly ideal eitherppIts bad enough that ransomware crews and other criminals are hitting healthcare facilities to steal protected health records which can be extremely damaging to patients and organizationsppMonterey County district attorney Jeannine Pacioni commented optimistically This settlement will help ensure that patients personally identifiable and private health information is protected and will protect worker safety and human health by ensuring that hazardous and medical wastes are properly managed and disposed of ppSend us newsppThe Register Biting the hand that feeds ITpp
Copyright All rights reserved 19982024
p
