Data Breaches Contribute to Fatal Heart Attacks and Pharmacist Convicted in Opioid Diversion Conspiracy
Take control of the physical data breach and drug diversion risks that threaten your healthcare organization with Senseon’s Physical Security Breach Roundup. We bring you the most recent physical data breach and drug diversion announcements each month. If you want to learn more about what you can do to minimize the risk of your facility ending up on this list, we can help.
Physical Data Breach News
URMC Pays $3M Over Inadequate Response to Lost Laptop and Flash Drive
Lost devices are in the healthcare breach news after the University of Rochester Medical Center has been ordered to pay a $3 million settlement due to their loss of an unencrypted flash drive and laptop computer, both of which contained patient information.
OCR reports that the hospital failed to conduct enterprise-wide risk analysis among other security and vulnerability measures that should have been taken after the breach reports were filed in 2013 and 2017.
Autopsy Photos of 18 Patients Lost After Camera Theft
Loyola University Medical Center is at the center of news reports after a camera was stolen from their facility.
The camera contained autopsy photos of 18 deceased patients, nine of which were never uploaded to their electronic files. Some patients weren’t notified until two months after Loyola staff noticed the camera had been stolen.
Are Data Breaches Causing an Increase in Fatal Heart Attacks?
According to recent research out of Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, it’s possible that data breaches contribute to heart attack fatalities.
The researchers found that security remediation initiatives, like stronger passwords, quicker log out times for idle computers, and stronger authentication procedures, had a significant impact on a hospital’s ability to deliver care to heart attack victims. This is because longer approval and authentication slow down the care delivery processes.
Drug Diversion News
Employee Charged in Senior Center Drug Theft
Multiple items, including a medical card, narcotics, radios, and a VCR, were stolen on October 14 from Elmcroft Senior Living. Tina Hall, who was employed by the center, has been charged with first-degree theft of property. The group has failed to answer questions from local news about protocols in managing controlled substances.
Miami Nurse Accused of Drug Theft
Miami is in the news again after RN, Joshua Thomas Lyle, was indicted on 16 drug-related charges, including one count of drug tampering, two counts of possession of dangerous drugs, three counts of illegal processing of drug documents, and 10 counts of theft of drugs. Lyle was indicted for incidents that happened between Jan 1 and May 31.
Pharmacist Convicted in Opioid Diversion Conspiracy
Abiodun Fabode, a pharmacist from Chesterfield Township in Michigan, was convicted in federal court on charges of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, along with individual counts of unlawful distribution of opioids.
Fabode dispensed more than 245,080 unit dosages of controlled substances outside the course of legitimate medical practice, knowing fully the illegitimacy of the prescriptions. The prescriptions included Oxycodone and Oxymorphone. In exchange, he received cash payments of over $1.89 million. Five other co-defendants pleaded guilty to the conspiracy last year.
Technology Tapped to Fight Opioid Crisis in Hospitals
Can technology help solve the opioid crisis? This article highlights several technology companies that have created software to support hospitals and pharmacies in tracking controlled substances and catching drug diverters. The article notes, however, that it is imperative for hospitals to act on the information these solutions provide.
Want to learn what the hospital security of tomorrow looks like? Check out the future of dynamic hospital security here.
