Your prescribed dose of health law news
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a new health‑focused capability within its generative AI chatbot that allows users to connect their medical records and wellness app data to generate more personalized health‑related responses. This feature represents a shift from using AI for general health information toward deeper, context‑aware insights grounded in individuals’ own data.
What…
It was brought to the attention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that healthcare providers may be violating HIPAA in certain instances where they deny parental access to a child’s medical records, or require the child to authorize the disclosure of their medical records to the parent…
Ransomware cyber attacks have been a prominent threat to the healthcare industry. In this case, First Choice Dental, a large dental practice with multiple locations across Wisconsin, was targeted by hackers in October 2023. The hackers gained access to sensitive information including patient names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers…
Meta Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has been found liable by a California federal jury for improperly using sensitive reproductive health data to run targeted ads, in a case involving the popular Flo Health period-tracking app. Eight women brought the lawsuit on behalf of a class of up to 38 million…
Dental service organization (DSO) Aspen Dental has agreed to pay $18.7 million to resolve claims that it secretly shared web user data with Meta and Google, without obtaining users’ consent or informing them.
The claims are part of a class action lawsuit brought against Aspen Dental in Illinois State Court, accusing the DSO of violating…
On July 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the formation of the DOJ-HHS False Claims Act Working Group to strengthen “their ongoing collaboration to advance priority enforcement areas” in combating healthcare fraud. The two agencies cited the long history of partnership between them in enforcing…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced another settlement for alleged violations of HIPAA. OCR investigated BayCare Health System, which serves central Florida, after a patient complained to OCR in 2018 that her medical record was accessed by an unauthorized individual.
The patient told OCR that she…
23andMe’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has sparked significant concerns over the privacy and security of genetic data belonging to its 15 million customers.
Founded in 2006, 23andMe built its business around direct-to-consumer DNA testing, offering insights into ancestry and health risks. However, declining demand, financial struggles, and a major data breach in October 2023…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on December 3 that it imposed a $1.19 million penalty on Gulf Coast Pain Consultants, a pain management practice in Florida, following a security breach that affected over 34,000 individuals.
Gulf Coast filed a breach notification report with OCR, as required…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed a $240,000 civil monetary penalty against Providence Medical Institute in connection with a ransomware attack that revealed vulnerabilities in the Institute’s systems and potential HIPAA violations.
The Institute was the victim of a series of ransomware attacks in 2018 that compromised…
