A class-action lawsuit filed against Saint Francis Healthcare System in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri, alleging violations of the Missouri Merchandise Practices Act, is close to being settled for $350,000.
“The Missouri Merchandise Practices Act is there for people in Missouri to use when they are hurt by the unethical practices or problematic practices, in general, of businesses but, unfortunately, we have closed off a lot of the opportunities for people who are harmed by businesses to be compensated,” former Attorney General candidate Elad Gross said.
Approval of the settlement is currently pending with U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark who was nominated to the federal bench by President Trump in 2018.
Plaintiffs Teresa Mowery and Gregory Rutledge sued Saint Francis Healthcare System over its decision not to pay a ransom fee to recover hacked data, leaving them with only a portion of their electronic medical records and no access to the rest.
“Plaintiffs and class members had their medical care and treatment, as well as their daily lives, disrupted,” attorney Brandon Wise wrote in the Jan. 23 complaint. “As a consequence of the ransomware locking down the medical records of Plaintiffs and class members, Plaintiffs and class members had to, among other things, forego medical care and treatment or had to seek alternative care and treatment. Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ identities are now at risk because of the Defendant’s conduct since the Private Information that Defendant SFHS collected and maintained is now in the hands of data thieves.”
The Missouri Merchandise Practices Act is a statewide consumer protection law, which enables the Attorney General's office and private individuals to file suit against companies that are in breach of consumer protection provisions.
“What surprises me, in general, is the lack of enforcement,” Gross told the St. Louis Record. “We need to be doing a much better job of helping consumers and making sure that their rights are protected in Missouri. I don't think we do a very good job of that at the state government level.”
Gross campaigned for the Democratic nomination of Attorney General and lost in the primary on Aug. 4 to former federal prosecutor Rich Finneran.
“The state has also limited consumer protection laws through the legislature, which keeps fighting to take away the rights of individuals to sue when they are wronged by corporations that have violated consumer protection laws,” Gross added.
If the settlement is approved, each plaintiff will receive $280 along with free credit monitoring services, according to media reports.
“There are vulnerabilities in some kind of a data system when you do see a breach,” Gross said in an interview. “Companies are always trying to develop their best security practices but hackers are out there.”
HipaaJournal reported that of the 107,000 patients who were impacted by the breach, which took place at Ferguson Medical Group before it was acquired by the Saint Francis Healthcare System, 90,000 joined the litigation.