Many of the plaintiffs have already fallen victim to identity theft

Feb 8, 2013 19:51 GMT  ·  By

The North Shore University Hospital is being sued by 12 of its patients after records containing their personal information have been stolen from the organization.

The stolen records contained names, addresses, social security numbers, medical history and other details, CBS New York reports.

The main problem is that many of the plaintiffs have already fallen victim to identity theft. In one case, the stolen information was used for fraudulent tax returns.

Two individuals suspected of being involved in the theft of patient records were arrested last year. However, the plaintiffs are unhappy with the fact that the hospital had known of the thefts for more than a year, but it failed to notify victims.

The North Shore University Hospital is accused of misrepresentation, negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. The institution is also accused of violating, among other laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The hospital representatives state that additional security measures have been implemented since the incident and no identity thefts have been reported in the last 11 months, but one of the plaintiffs’ attorney disagrees.