NAID : News : Penalty for Doctors Who Put Medical Records in Dumpster

According to the Greene County Daily World on August 19, 2008, Dr. J.B. O’Donnell of Bloomington, Indiana was fined a meager $1,250.00 by the state as part of an agreement filed in the Monroe Circuit Court. In October 2007, it was reported that Dr J.B. O’Donnell threw away approximately a dozen boxes in his dumpster in the back alley. The patient files thrown into the dumpster contained sensitive medical information, names, addresses, Social Security numbers and employment history. There was minimal corrective action required of the doctor. He agreed to post the security breach on his website for a measly 30 days.

This news story raises the question as to whether Dr. J.B. O’Donnell and the Monroe Circuit Court know how to spell the H word…HIPPA.