New York City Hospital Hit with $2.5 M Lawsuit

September 18, 2017 | Legal News, Uncategorized

New York City Hospital Hit with $2.5 Million Negligence Lawsuit

A man, known as John Doe in court documents, filed a $2.5 million negligence lawsuit against New York City’s Mount Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital.

One of the hospital’s clinics allegedly faxed the mans medical records to his employer’s mail room. The medical records stated that he was HIV positive.

He recently told the New York Daily News, “My most intimate and personal secrets were broadcast for anyone who happened to be walking by my office fax machine. For years now, I have been struggling to cope with how my life was changed by the unbelievably careless act of the people who I trusted with my care.”

The lawsuit claims Doe was being treated at the Spencer Cox Clinic in 2014, and he requested his records so he could send them to another clinic. He even instructed hospital staffers to mail the documents to a post office box.

Doe had been diagnosed a few months earlier and was horrified when the results were faxed to his employer. He soon quit his job, and had to tell his friends and family.

Doe also told the New York Daily News, ““I simply could not stay with that company. I was in a constant state of apprehension about whether or not a colleague or supervisor was looking at me differently because they knew about my diagnosis. The paranoia and anxiety was too much.”

Mount Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital, acknowledge the mistake, calling it egregious and a breach of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The hospital already paid a $387,000 fine to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who launched an investigation based upon a complaint.