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Kacie Dawkins `

AH102

11/14/18

HIPAA Violation Lawsuit Webquest

Ms. A, 29 who was LPN at a midsize regional clinic thought of herself as a low pay employee.

Mr. A, Ms. A’s husband was in an auto accident and sued by the others in the opposite car for

their injuries, which that put them in a financial strain. Ms. A was flipping through charts while

straightening up the files and came across the plaintiff’s name. Reading the charts with great

interest, she jotted some notes down, stuck them in her bag and replaced the file. That same night

Mr. A was complaining about the impending lawsuit and the potential financial consequences.

Ms. A smiled and pulled out her notes she’d written down earlier. “I think this will help.”, she

said. The next day Mr. A phoned the patient told them that he had information that could weaken

the man’s case and suggested that he drop the lawsuit. The patient hung with Mr. A and

contacted two people; the clinic which Ms. A worked and the district attorney. The following

day Ms. A was fired. “You may have very well put this clinic in jeopardy.”, Dr. P said. After Ms.

A left Dr. P called a meeting with all the nurses and outlined the laws on patient privacy. Ms. A

and Mr. A were indicted. Ms. A was charged with violating the Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act (HIPAA) and with “conspiracy to wrongfully disclose individual health

information for personal gain with maliciously harmful intent in a personal dispute.” Her

husband was charged with witness tampering. The couple hired a criminal defense attorney, who

negotiated a plea agreement with the federal prosecutor. Ms. A pleaded guilty to one count of
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wrongful disclosure of individual health information for personal gain. In exchange for her plea,

the charges against her husband were dismissed.

Ms. A is facing up to 10 years in prison, a fine of as much as $250,000, and up to three years of

supervised probation. The state nursing board is seeking to revoke her license.

In my opinion, I believe that this case was handled very well. On the other hand, I believe that

Mr. A should’ve been charged as well, regardless of Ms. A’s plea. In the work field, you must

separate work from personal, no matter what. Ms. A should’ve never opened the patient’s files as

she’s not working with him, so it’s not her place. Not only that, but you’re not allowed to discuss

any patient information outside of work or with other workers that are not working with him/her.

That’s violating HIPAA and the patient’s confidentiality.


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Works Cited

“Staff Nurse Faces Jail Time for HIPAA Violations.” Renal and Urology News,

www.renalandurologynews.com/legal-issues-in-medicine/nurse-jail-hipaa-

violations/article/119854/.

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