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Earlier this month, the New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck announced that its Division of Consumer Affairs had reached a $425,000 settlement with three New Jersey-based providers of cancer care over alleged failures to adequately safeguard patient data.…
Continue Reading NJ Acting Attorney General Announces $425,000 Fine to Settle Breach Investigation

On October 6, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the launch of the new Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative that will use the False Claims Act to pursue cybersecurity related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients. …
Continue Reading DOJ Announces New Cyber-Fraud Initiative and Intent to Utilize False Claims Act to Spur Compliance

On October 12, 2021, New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced a settlement with Diamond Institute for Infertility and Menopause, LLC over a data breach that compromised the personal information of 14,663 patients, including 11,071 New Jersey residents. The Division of Consumer Affairs alleged that the fertility clinic violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the federal HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules by removing protected health information safeguards.…
Continue Reading New Jersey Acting Attorney General Announces Data Breach Settlement with Fertility Clinic

During the week of October 4, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law bills amending the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, California’s data breach notification law and California’s data security law. Additional bills, amending the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and the California Insurance Code, also were also signed into law. The Governor also signed into law a bill protecting the privacy and security of genetic data processed by direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, and a bill designed to prevent the sale, purchase and use of data obtained by illegal means.…
Continue Reading California Governor Signs into Law Bills Updating the CPRA and Bills Addressing the Privacy and Security of Genetic and Medical Data, Among Others

On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights issued guidance regarding when the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to disclosures and requests for information about a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The guidance addresses common workplace scenarios and answers questions about whether and how the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies.…
Continue Reading OCR Guidance Regarding HIPAA’s Applicability to COVID-19 Vaccination Information

On October 1, 2021, Connecticut’s two new data security laws went into effect. The new laws modify Connecticut’s existing breach notification requirements and establish a safe harbor for businesses that create and maintain a written cybersecurity program.…
Continue Reading UPDATE: New Connecticut Breach Notification Requirements and Cybersecurity Safe Harbor Are Now in Effect

Connecticut recently passed two cybersecurity laws that will become effective on October 1, 2021. The newly passed laws modify Connecticut’s existing breach notification requirements and establish a safe harbor for businesses that create and maintain a written cybersecurity program that complies with applicable state or federal law or industry-recognized security frameworks.…
Continue Reading New Connecticut Breach Notification Requirements and Cybersecurity Safe Harbor Effective October 2021

On May 25, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it had reached a settlement with a clinical laboratory for violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. As part of this settlement, the company agreed to pay OCR $25,000 and to implement a robust corrective action plan. …
Continue Reading HHS Reaches Settlement with Clinical Laboratory for Alleged Violations of HIPAA Security Rule

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently vacated a 4.3 million dollar civil monetary penalty imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights in 2017 against the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, holding that the penalty was “arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise unlawful.”…
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Vacates MD Anderson HIPAA Penalty