Hospital Pays $1 Million for Records Lost on Train

Massachusetts General Hospital has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it had lost private records of 192 patients on a commuter train in 2009.

The records, some of which included information on patients with HIV/AIDS, were lost on a Red Line train in Boston and never recovered, according to WBUR News.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that a hospital employee took home the documents, containing protected health information like name, date of birth, medical record number, health insurer and policy number, diagnosis and name of provider of 66 patients. While on her way home from work, she removed the documents from her bag, and placed them on the seat beside her, but left the papers on the train.

Twenty of the patients jointly sued the hospital after finding their records were missing. In addition to the $1 million settlement paid to HHS, Massachusetts General Hospital will also issue new and revised policies regarding privacy procedures.