Settlements have been reached to resolve class action data breach lawsuits against Palomar Health Medical Group in California and Summit Medical Group in Tennessee.
Palomar Health Medical Group Data Breach Settlement
Palomar Health Medical Group, a non-profit healthcare organization serving patients at 20 locations in North San Diego County and South Riverside County in Southern California, has agreed to settle class action litigation stemming from a Spring 2024 cybersecurity incident involving the protected health information of 1,140,221 individuals. The incident was identified on May 5, 2024, and the forensic investigation confirmed that hackers had access to its network from April 23, 2024, to May 5, 2024. Data potentially stolen in the incident included names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, state identification numbers, medical histories, health information, health insurance information, and other sensitive data.
Several class action lawsuits were filed in response to the data breach, all of which alleged that the data breach could have been prevented and occurred as a result of the failure of the defendant to implement reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measures. On September 16, 2024, the lawsuits were consolidated into a single complaint – Castro et al. v. Arch Health Partners, Inc. d/b/a Palomar Health Medical Group – which is pending in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Diego. The consolidated lawsuit asserted claims for negligence, negligence per se, invasion of privacy, and violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act, California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and California Customer Records Act. All claims and contentions in the lawsuit were denied by Palomar Health Medical Group; however, all parties agreed to settle the litigation to avoid the costs and risks associated with continued litigation.
Under the terms of the settlement, Palomar Health Medical Group has agreed to establish a $3,100,000 settlement fund, from which attorneys’ fees and expenses, settlement administration costs, and service awards for the class representatives will be deducted. The remainder of the settlement fund will be used to pay benefits to the class members…