Radiology company Assured Imaging escapes class-action lawsuit over cyberattack
An Arizona-headquartered medical imaging company has narrowly avoided a class-action lawsuit over a cyberattack on its electronic medical record database, according to reporting from Reuters.
U.S. District Judge John Hinderaker in Tuscon granted Assured Imaging LLC’s motion to dismiss the case on May 10, ruling the radiology organization’s patients lacked legal standing to sue.
The complaints trace back to May 2020, when a ransomware attack accessed patient data from Assured’s EMR. The imaging provider notified patients indicating “limited” data had been potentially stolen.
Four patients named in the lawsuit claimed Assured is guilty of negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Arizona’s consumer fraud law, the news outlet reported May 11.
Judge Hinderaker, however, sided with the radiology company, which specializes in women’s imaging services, ruling the information potentially accessed—names, addresses, medical history and other patient data—doesn’t rise to the level of “certainly impending injury.”
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are considering our options,” David Lietz of Mason Lietz & Klinger, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email to Reuters.
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Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.