Adventist Health Settles Alleged Privacy Violation Case Involving Stillbirth Incidents
25 June 2024 |
Adventist Health Hanford has reached a settlement with the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, regarding alleged privacy violations under multiple laws, including the Unfair Competition Law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The hospital faced allegations of wrongfully disclosing medical information to law enforcement related to the stillbirths of patients Adora Perez and Chelsea Becker (in 2017 and 2019, respectively), leading to their prosecutions for murder.
The settlement includes a $10,000 civil penalty and mandates comprehensive reforms at Adventist Health to safeguard patient health information (PHI). “No woman should be penalized for the loss of her pregnancy,” stated Attorney General Bonta.
However, details of the case indicate that in December of 2017, Perez had a baby boy named Hades who had methamphetamine in his system, with the doctor informing law enforcement that the drug played a large part in the baby’s death. Medical staff at Adventist Health provided law enforcement with information about the stillbirth, including details about Perez’ labor, the state of the fetus, and her drug use. This led to her being charged with, and pleading guilty to, manslaughter resulting in an 11-year prison sentence, which was later vacated in 2022.
Chelsea Becker faced a similar ordeal when her PHI was disclosed after a methamphetamine-related stillbirth in September 2019, resulting in 16 months of incarceration before her charges were also eventually dismissed.
Due to the cases, the California Department of Justice has ordered that Adventist Health overhaul its PHI handling protocols, requiring them to revise training materials, promptly report any unauthorized disclosures, maintain an anonymous reporting hotline, and implement annual mandatory training for all staff handling PHI. Currently, Adventist Health’s privacy practices state that medical information will be disclosed, “when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.”
The website with the full statement can be found here.
