DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF)– It’s been three weeks since Kettering Health experienced a cyberattack, causing a system wide outage and challenges to patient care. Wright & Schulte, LLC. announced Monday the firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against the healthcare network.
According to the law firm, Wright & Schulte, Kettering Health had more than 730,000 files stolen from more than 20,000 folders during the attack, including personal patient information like social security numbers, plus medical and financial information.
Attorneys Michael Wright and Richard Schulte said since then, hundreds of people have called their office asking for legal representation, as it has become harder for them to receive the care they need.
“They’re being denied healthcare and the MyChart the system they use to access their medical records sending them out a waiver telling them to release all their legal claims, so they can get access to their medical records so they can get medical care,” said Schulte.
Wright and Schulte said in addition to delays in patient care, the cyberattack could lead to decades of fraud and identity theft, as some patients’ sensitive information is already on the dark web.
While the health network did provide a website specific to cyberattack updates, Wright said Kettering Health failed to communicate with patients throughout this situation.
“For instance, have a client that left Kettering went to the James. Kettering has not picked up the phone. Kettering has not allowed the James access to this person’s medical records…this is a cancer patient,” said Wright.
The complaint also alleges Kettering Health failed to comply with industry-standard cybersecurity practices and didn’t take appropriate steps to protect patient data.
We reached out to Kettering Health about this class action lawsuit. They told us quote: “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
Now, the law firm said Kettering Health needs to step up with a plan immediately because this is a life-or-death situation for those needing treatment.
“The first step is to contact all those individuals that have been affected, but candidly, we believe that they don’t know all the individuals that have been affected because they’re medical records are not necessarily available,” said Wright.
Schulte said they hope putting continued pressure on Kettering Health will ensure the health organization focuses on the future of patient care. He added they’ll continue to assist these patients and although it’s a lot of work, they’re ready to fight.
We’ll keep updating you on the class-action lawsuit on air and online.
