Injured Workers Pharmacy Data Breach Investigation

The Lyon Firm is reviewing cases on behalf of Injured Workers Pharmacy data breach victims in Massachusetts and nationwide. Our data privacy attorneys are actively involved in a wide variety of data theft cases, and offer free and confidential consultations. Contact us to seek justice and compensation.

Hackers have allegedly gained access to email accounts containing protected health information and Social Security numbers at Injured Workers Pharmacy. Injured Workers Pharmacy is an Andover, Massachusetts-based entity, where a data breach was discovered back in May 2021. The company reported that suspicious activity was detected in one employee email account, and a data breach investigation revealed that seven email accounts had been compromised.

The protected health information of over 75,000 individuals was compromised, including:

• Names
• Addresses
• Social Security numbers

Injured Workers Pharmacy said it has strengthened its company security measures and is offering impacted individuals credit monitoring and identity restoration services.

A data breach typically occurs in malware, phishing attacks or ransomware attacks when a hacker or cybercriminal gains access to sensitive personal information that has been collected and stored on a company’s servers. Hackers often target organizations with weak or outdated security practices.

Once the information is obtained, it can be sold to third parties to use in identity theft or other fraudulent data theft schemes. Victims of data breaches are at an increased risk of identity theft and financial losses.

If you have received a letter from Injured Workers Pharmacy about the recent data breach, contact a class action privacy attorney.

Injured Workers Pharmacy Data Breach Lawsuit

Data Theft Lawyers believe companies who collect and store personal data have an ethical and legal duty to protect it to prevent data theft. Creating a proper network security system is expensive, however, and many companies attempt to bypass these necessary costs. If a company to protect consumers’ and patients’ sensitive information, and a data breach occurs, they may be held liable.

The Lyon Firm encourages all potentially affected individuals in the  Injured Workers Pharmacy security breach to act quickly and remain vigilant against potential identity theft and fraud by reviewing account statements, medical bills and credit reports. Contact a privacy attorney to review your data breach case.

Companies have a duty to engage in the following system security measures:

• Properly monitor data security systems for existing intrusions
• Ensure that vendors with access to computer systems and data employ reasonable security procedures
• Train employees in the proper handling of emails containing PII and PHI and maintain adequate email security practices
• Implement technical policies and procedures to allow electronic PHI access only to individuals or software programs granted access rights
• Implement procedures to review records of information system activity regularly, such as audit logs, access reports and security incident tracking reports
• Protect against reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of electronic PHI

An experienced class action privacy attorney can determine if you are eligible to file a data breach lawsuit or join a class of plaintiffs. Lawyers investigating the matter can assist in determining the following:

• Did Injured Workers Pharmacy fail to adopt security safeguards that would have prevented a breach?
• Did Injured Workers Pharmacy notify customers as soon as it learned of the incident?
• Did Injured Workers Pharmacy provide a complete list of all individuals impacted?
• Did IWP provide security in line with industry standards?

The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule calls for data breach notifications to be issued to the Secretary of the Health and Human Services “without unnecessary delay.” No later than 60 days after the date of discovery of a data breach, healthcare entities have a duty to alert the government and begin preparing to alert the public.

Consumer privacy attorneys say there has been a trend for HIPAA-regulated entities to wait as long as possible before alerting affected individuals, a practice that place consumers at a higher risk of identity theft and fraud.

In many cases, data breach notifications have been sent out many months after a security breach incident was detected. There may be valid reasons for a delay in reporting, though in some cases this institutes a severe disservice to those impacted by a data theft event.

Delays to individual data theft notifications could mean individuals’ Personal Health Information (PHI) has been in the hands of criminals for many months before they are even aware about the data theft.

Privacy lawyers claim promptly sending out individual data breach notification letters and being transparent about the fraud risk for individuals is not only ethical, but the only way to avoid stiff penalties.

The HHS has made it clear that if healthcare entities do not comply with the 60 day rule from the date of data breach discovery, they may be liable for notification violations.

What Should You Do Following the Injured Workers Pharmacy Data Breach?

Regardless of the reason for a security breach, victims have the right to file a claim against a company for failing to protect their information. All companies and organizations must exercise reasonable care in protecting patient information, and if they do not, they can be held liable for the damages that result, including identity theft.

Security breach plaintiffs and privacy attorneys representing plaintiffs have been able to settle multi-million dollar recoveries. If you or a loved one has received notice of an online security incident affecting you, or suspect signs of identity theft, contact a data theft lawyer for a free consultation.

Individuals can be ruined financially and emotionally, and deserve proper online security measures. But many companies and hospitals violate privacy laws and consumer rights, and thus face class action lawsuits.

After a data breach turns your life upside down, remember that you are not the only victim. There are millions of Americans who suffer from data privacy events every year, and in turn, seek legal action for compensation and to hold companies accountable for negligent security systems.

If you want more information on current data security litigation and how to file a data theft class action lawsuit, contact The Lyon Firm for a free and confidential Injured Workers Pharmacy data breach case review.