A lawsuit has been filed after the U revealed last week that a box containing billing records for roughly 2.2 million hospital and clinic patients was stolen.
Former U patient Patrick Beamish filed a class action lawsuit on June 11 with the Third District Court claiming negligence against Perpetual Storage Inc., the moving company hired to transport the records to an off-site vault. The records contain 1.3 million social security numbers and potentially put those patients at risk for identity theft.
The university announced on Tuesday that a Perpetual Storage Inc. courier picked up the records from the hospital using his own car instead of a company van. He then drove home with the records instead of delivering them to the off-site vault, and the records were stolen from his car overnight.
The U issued letters to all affected patients informing them of the situation, and is offering a free year of credit monitoring and fraud alert. However, Beamish’s attorney Karra Porter told the Salt Lake Tribune that she wants immediate credit monitoring and the storage company to fund any credit repair and legal counsel for any patients who are victims of identity theft as a result of the incident.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Beamish said he plans to file a lawsuit against the U on Monday.
Christopher Nelson, director of public affairs for University Health Care, said that the U is doing what it can to be proactive in protecting its patients, and declined to comment on Beamish’ lawsuit until it has been filed.