The Retina Group of Washington Hit with Class Action Over March 2023 Cyberattack

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The Retina Group of Washington (RGW) faces a proposed class action over a “foreseeable and preventable” cyberattack in March 2023 that reportedly compromised the personal data of approximately 456,000 current and former patients.

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According to a December 2023 notice letter sent to victims, the Maryland-based ophthalmology clinic discovered the cyberattack on March 26, 2023, when it began having difficulty accessing data in parts of its network. Per the notice, a subsequent investigation determined that during the incident, an unauthorized third party accessed and acquired certain information belonging to RGW patients.

The 46-page lawsuit relays that the data compromised in the cyberattack may have included individuals’ full names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license details and medical and health insurance information.

The suit claims negligence on the part of RGW is to blame for the data breach, alleging that the defendant failed to implement adequate cybersecurity protocols and properly encrypt the patient information in its care.

“Had the information been properly encrypted, the data thieves would have exfiltrated only unintelligible data,” the case says.

The complaint argues that given the prevalence of cyberattacks in the healthcare industry in recent years, RGW should have been aware of the risk and taken appropriate action to prevent unauthorized disclosure of the highly sensitive data entrusted to it by patients and those of its clients.

“[The plaintiff] and Class Members now face years of constant surveillance of their financial and personal records, monitoring, and loss of rights,” the filing contends. “The Class is incurring and will continue to incur such damages in addition to any fraudulent use of their Private Information.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone whose personal, health and/or financial information was exposed to unauthorized third parties as a result of the data breach experienced by the Retina Group of Washington.

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