Legal Research

FBI Investigating Threat to Reveal Patient Prescription Data

An article in the WIRED Blog Network reported on an extortion plot to divulge millions of patients’ prescription information. Express Scripts, a St. Louis company that manages the prescription benefits of 50 million people, recently asked the FBI to investigate an extortion plot which threatened to expose the personal information, including the prescriptions, of millions of its clients. In October, the company received an anonymous letter which contains the names of 75 clients along with their personal information, such as name, social security number, and prescriptions. The letter threatened the exposure of millions more patient records if Express Scripts doesn’t pay up.

The extortion threat was also reported by the New York Times (sub. may be required), and other news sources that I have read. With the concern surrounding the security of Personal Health Records, this plot might stall President Bush’s mandate to have the health records of all US citizens placed online within the next few years.

Besides asking for help from the FBI, Express Scripts has notified the 75 clients that  their personal data has been accessed and has set up a website for members to obtain information about the incident.  And a check of the press releases on their website shows that they have also offered a $1 million dollar reward to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the extortion threat.

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).