Illinois Gastroenterology Group Facing Class Action in Wake of October 2021 Data Breach

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Illinois Gastroenterology Group, PLLC faces a proposed class action in the wake of an October 2021 data breach during which patients’ sensitive personal information was reportedly exposed to unauthorized access.

According to the 31-page lawsuit, the breach was a direct result of the physicians’ group’s failure to adequately safeguard the information with which it was entrusted. The suit says the exposed data included consumers’ names; addresses; dates of birth; Social Security, driver’s license and passport numbers; financial account and payment card information; employee IDs, medical information and biometric data.

The lawsuit claims that those whose information was compromised in the breach now face a “present and imminent lifetime risk” of identity theft and “various other forms of personal, social, and financial harm.”

Although Illinois Gastroenterology Group became aware no later than November 2021 that “unusual activity” had occurred on its network, the defendant waited more than five months, until late April 2022, to notify victims, the lawsuit relays. Even worse, the suit says, there appears to have been no wide-scale public announcement of the security incident in the local press as of the time the complaint was filed on May 2.

“As of this writing, there exist many class members who have no idea their [sensitive personal information] has been compromised, and that they are at significant risk of identity theft and various other forms of personal, social, and financial harm,” the complaint contends. “The risk will remain for their respective lifetimes.”

The lawsuit alleges the defendant’s response to the data breach has been “entirely inadequate” given the delay in notifying victims, “vague” details regarding the steps taken to prevent future breaches and lack of further assistance beyond the account monitoring suggestions in the data breach notice.

“Plaintiff and members of the Class now face years of constant surveillance of their financial and personal records, monitoring, and loss of rights,” the lawsuit stresses. “The Class is incurring and will continue to incur such damages in addition to any fraudulent use of their [sensitive personal information].”

The case looks to represent anyone in the U.S. whose sensitive personal information was compromised in the data breach announced by Illinois Gastroenterology Group around April 23, 2022.

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