HCA Healthcare Multi-Million Dollar Data Breach Settlement Approved

Posted by Steve Alder

HCA Healthcare Inc. has agreed to settle class action litigation stemming from a July 2023 data breach that was reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as affecting 11,270,000 patients. The affected individuals had received healthcare services at HCA hospitals and doctors’ offices in 20 U.S. states.

HCA Healthcare was targeted by hackers who accessed and stole data from an external storage location, which was used to automate the formatting of email messages. A database was stolen that contained 27.7 million records. The hackers listed the database for sale when the ransom was not paid. Data compromised in the incident included names, contact information, dates of birth, and appointment information.

HCA Healthcare announced the data breach on or around July 10, 2024, and the first class action lawsuit was filed within a couple of days of the announcement. In total, 27 putative class action lawsuits were filed against HCA Healthcare in response to the data breach, which alleged negligence for inadequate cybersecurity practices and for failing to properly safeguard patient data. The lawsuits were consolidated – In re HCA Healthcare, Inc. Data Security Litigation – in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

HCA Healthcare denies the claims and contentions in the lawsuit; however, it negotiated a settlement to resolve the litigation, with no admission of liability or wrongdoing. While the total settlement amount has not been disclosed, attorneys for the plaintiffs may claim up to $3.1 million in fees. Attorneys usually claim one-third of the total settlement amount, which suggests the total settlement fund is greater than $9 million. The fifteen class representatives will each be paid a service award of up to $5,000.

Claims from class members will be paid once attorneys’ fees, expenses, settlement administration costs, and service awards have been deducted from the settlement fund. Class members may claim a one-year membership to a credit monitoring, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration service, which includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy. Class members may also submit a claim for reimbursement of documented, unreimbursed losses fairly traceable to the data breach up to a maximum of $5,000 per class member. HCA Healthcare has also confirmed that it will adopt, implement, and maintain security commitments to prevent similar incidents for at least two years from the settlement date. Those commitments have been filed under seal.

The deadline for exclusion from and objection to the settlement is August 25, 2025. Claims must be submitted by September 25, 2025, and the final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 27, 2025.

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Healthcare Organizations Settle Website Tracking Class Action Lawsuits

Posted by Steve Alder

Settlements have been reached with two healthcare entities to resolve allegations that they used pixels and other tracking tools on their websites, which disclosed sensitive data to third parties without the knowledge or consent of website users.

Tracking tools such as Meta Pixel and Google Analytics code are used on websites to track user behavior, such as the pages visited, actions taken on web pages, time spent on the site, and other information. These tools transmit the collected information to third parties along with unique identifiers. Website owners can use the information collected by these tools to improve their websites, and the collected data can be used for advertising purposes. For instance, if a web user visited a page about stopping smoking, they could be targeted with adverts for smoking cessation products on other websites.

Aspen Dental Management Settlement – $18.5 Million

Aspen Dental Management, a Chicago, IL-based dental support organization serving approximately 1,100 Aspen Dental offices across the United States, was sued over its use of tracking tools that transmitted web user data to Meta (Facebook) and Google without users’ knowledge or consent between 2022 and 2025.

Several lawsuits were filed in response to the impermissible disclosures, which were consolidated into a single complaint, Donnelly, et al. v. Aspen Dental Management, Inc., in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit alleged negligence and violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Florida Security of Communications Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and the Pennsylvania Wiretap Act.

Aspen Dental Management maintains there was no wrongdoing and denies all of the claims and contentions in the lawsuit; however, the decision was made to settle the lawsuit as the litigation was likely to be protracted and expensive, with an uncertain outcome. Class counsel and the class representatives believe the settlement is in the best interests of the class members.

Under the terms of the settlement, Aspen Dental Management will establish settlement funds totaling approximately $18.5 million to cover attorneys’ fees, expenses, settlement administration costs, class representative awards, and claims from class members.  There are two subclasses in the settlement. Group 1 consists of individuals who booked an appointment via the website between February 20, 2022, and June 1, 2023, and Group 2 consists of individuals who booked an appointment on the website between June 2, 2023, and January 1, 2025.

There are approximately 621,370 individuals in Group 1 and 1,625,000 individuals in Group 2. Aspen Dental Management will establish a fund of $2,796,169.50 for Group 1 and a fund of $15,673,220 for Group 2. Class members in Group 1 will receive a pro rata cash payment once attorneys’ fees, expenses, service awards, and settlement administration costs have been deducted from the settlement fund. Class members in Group 2 will receive a cash payment of $15, subject to a pro rata reduction depending on the number of claims received.

The deadline for exclusion from the settlement, opting out, and submitting a claim is September 15, 2025. The settlement has received preliminary approval from the court, and the final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 20, 2025.

Southern Mono Healthcare District (Mammoth Hospital)

Southern Mono Healthcare District, doing business as Mammoth Hospital, was also sued over the use of pixels on its website. The lawsuit, Doe v. Southern Mono Healthcare District, was filed on August 9, 2023, in the Mono County Court in Mono County, California. The lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss and was moved to the Superior Court of California, Mono County. The lawsuit claimed the use of the tracking tools violated California privacy laws.

The defendants maintain there is no liability and no wrongdoing, but chose to settle the lawsuit to avoid the costs and risks of trial. The settlement covers Mammoth Hospital patients who used the Mammoth Web Properties to access the “Your Medical Record” section on the website (mammothhospital.org) between August 9, 2022, through August 9, 2023.

Class members can claim two benefits. All class members may claim a 12-month membership to CyEx Privacy Shield Pro, which includes dark web monitoring for personal information, plus a one-time cash payment of $20. The deadline for opting out and objecting to the settlement is September 15, 2025, and the deadline for submitting a claim is October 14, 2025. The settlement has received preliminary approval from the court, and the final fairness hearing has been scheduled for November 6, 2025.

There has been a flurry of settlements in recent weeks to resolve pixel-related lawsuits against healthcare providers, including MarinHealth, University of Rochester Medical Center, BJC Healthcare, Henry Ford Health, and Eisenhower Health.

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Data Breaches Announced by Florida & Colorado Mental Health Clinics

Posted by Steve Alder

Two mental healthcare providers have recently announced cybersecurity incidents that exposed patient data: Eleos Wellness in Florida and Clinica Family Health & Wellness in Colorado.

Eleos Wellness, Florida

Eleos Wellness, a Pinellas Park, FL-based provider of mental health services, has recently announced a data security incident that potentially involved unauthorized access to client information. Unauthorized network activity was detected on June 11, 2025, and third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the activity. The investigation is ongoing; however, it has been confirmed that an unauthorized third party had access to names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and health insurance information. No evidence has been found to indicate that its electronic medical record system was involved.

No fraudulent activity related to the incident has been identified; however, the affected individuals have been advised to remain vigilant against identity theft and fraud by monitoring their personal accounts and explanation of benefits statements. Eleos Wellness has confirmed that steps are being taken to improve security to prevent similar incidents in the future. The incident is not currently shown on the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights website, so it is currently unclear how many individuals have been affected.

Clinica Family Health & Wellness, Colorado

Clinica Family Health & Wellness, a Colorado-based network of mental health clinics, has announced a security breach affecting the Mental Health Partners environment. An intrusion was identified and rapidly contained on March 25, 2025, and third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the nature and scope of the unauthorized activity.

No evidence was found to indicate that any data was removed from its network; however, it is possible that patient data may have been accessed. Clinica Family Health & Wellness said a comprehensive and thorough investigation is ongoing, and it has yet to be determined exactly how many individuals have been affected or the types of information involved. Notification letters will be mailed to the affected individuals when the review is concluded.

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Florida Practice Management Company Announces June 2025 Data Breach

Posted by Steve Alder

Think Big Health Care Solutions, a Florida-based practice management company, and Minnesota Epilepsy Group have recently confirmed cyberattacks and data breaches. Ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on Emerson Chiropractic in Indiana and El Paso Quality Dentistry in Texas.

Think Big Health Care Solutions, Florida

Think Big Health Care Solutions, a Wellington, FL-based practice management company that provides billing, contracting, and credentialing services to medical practices, has identified unauthorized access to an employee’s email account. Suspicious activity within the account was identified on June 20, 2025, and third-party cybersecurity specialists were engaged to investigate the incident.

Evidence was found that suggested some emails and files in the account had been accessed by an unauthorized third party. A review was conducted to determine the types of information involved and the individuals affected, and notification letters will be mailed to those individuals when that process has been completed. Think Big Health Care Solutions has confirmed that the account contained information such as first names, initials, and last names, addresses, telephone/fax numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, tax identification numbers, passport numbers, admission dates, health insurance policy numbers, bank/financial account numbers and routing numbers, credit/debit card information, diagnoses/conditions, lab results, medications, claims information, medical record numbers, other medical/health information, CPT codes, and referring provider names.

Additional technical and administrative measures have been implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future, and enhanced training is being provided to the workforce on phishing detection, secure data handling, and incident response procedures.

Minnesota Epilepsy Group

Roseville, MN-based Minnesota Epilepsy Group (MEG) has experienced a cybersecurity incident that affected certain systems within its network and caused some disruption to business operations. According to the April 25, 2025, substitute breach notice, MEG identified the incident on February 27, 2025. Immediate action was taken to secure its systems, and third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate to determine the nature and scope of the unauthorized activity. The investigation is ongoing, but it has been confirmed that client and employee data were exposed in the incident.

The exact types of data involved have yet to be confirmed, but likely include individuals’ names, addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers, EEG summaries, neuropsychology reports, medication records, and health insurance information. No evidence of misuse of that information has been identified to date; however, the affected individuals have been advised to remain vigilant and should review their financial account statements for signs of fraudulent activity. MEG said it continually evaluates and modifies its practices to enhance privacy and security and is taking steps to augment existing cybersecurity measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Ransomware Groups Claim Responsibility for Attacks on Two Healthcare Providers

Ransomware groups have recently claimed responsibility for attacks on two healthcare providers, Emerson Chiropractic in Indiana and El Paso Quality Dentistry in Texas. The Dragonforce ransomware group claims to have stolen 96 GB of data from Emerson Chiropractic, which provides chiropractic services to individuals in the Southside of Indianapolis. Stolen data has been published on the data leak site, indicating the ransom was not paid.

The Beast ransomware group has added El Paso Quality Dentistry to its data leak site and claims to have stolen approximately 700 GB of data. Screenshots have been uploaded to the data leak site, indicating a broad range of data has been stolen, with some folder names suggesting patient data was involved. Currently, the stolen data has not been leaked. Neither healthcare provider has publicly announced a cyberattack or data breach at the time of writing.

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