By Julia Vann
Premera Blue Cross faces an accusation of destroying evidence for a class action lawsuit. The initial breach happened back in 2015 when a cyberattack allegedly compromised 35 computers. Up to 11 million patient records may have been compromised.
This is considered the second largest data breach ever to be reported by a healthcare organization. Given that information, it only makes sense that a number of lawsuits would come out of it.
Unfortunately, a solution for this problem is not easy to find. It is even more difficult now that Premera Blue Cross faces an accusation of destroying evidence.
A third party firm, Mandiant, investigated the breach. They required 35 computers for investigation, but Premera only handed over 34. So what happened to the other computer? According to Premera, they destroyed the last computer.
“Whether accidental or willful, the destruction of the computer is extremely damaging to the case. The motion states that ‘Without access to that hard drive, trying to prove that the hackers removed plaintiffs PII and PHI through that computer is impossible'” (HIPAA Journal).
That last computer could’ve been the source of the bug.
With this destroyed evidence, the case became even more complicated.
In spite of the complications, we can learn a lesson from this. Even if something seems useless to an investigation, don’t get rid of it.
To learn more about HIPAA, visit the American Medical Compliance website today.
