First Ever Criminal Conviction for HIPAA Violation
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington announced August 19 that Richard W. Gibson pled guilty in federal court in Seattle to wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information for economic gain. Gibson admitted that he had obtained a patient's name, date of birth, and social security number while employed at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He then used the cancer patient's information for the purpose of obtaining credit cards in the patient's name and incurring more than $9,000 in debt in the patient's name. Under a plea agreement, Gibson will be sentenced to a term of 10-16 months in prison and will pay restitution both to the credit card companies and to the victim.
To read the U.S. Attorney's press release and the plea agreement, go to http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/press_room/2004/aug/gibson.htm.
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