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Pair Accused Of Stealing Hospital Patients' Information

POSTED: 7:00 pm EDT September 8, 2006
UPDATED: 8:26 pm EDT September 8, 2006

WESTON, Fla. -- Two suspects have been arrested in the alleged identity theft of 1,100 Cleveland Clinic patients.

Federal authorities said Isis Machado, of Miami Lakes, a former front desk coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Weston, allegedly used her computer to obtain the dates of birth, Social Security numbers and medical numbers of patients and then sold the information to Fernando Ferrer, Jr., of Naples, Fla.

"Today's case is an unwholesome criminal trilogy of medical privacy violations, identity theft and health care fraud that, absent careful vigilance, may become all too common," said U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta. "We allege that Machado illegally accessed the Cleveland Clinic's computerized patient files, downloaded the personal information of at least 1,100 patients and then sold this private medical information to her co-conspirator."

"The personal information was then used in an attempt to defraud the Medicare program of more than $2.8 million, almost $3 million," said Timothy Delaney of the FBI.

Cleveland Clinic officials said this is the first time they have had a crime of this magnitude at their facilities.

"In a rapidly expanding world of electronic medical records, preserving the privacy and the integrity of confidential patient information is critical," Acosta said.

Cleveland Clinic officials said they responded promptly, notifying authorities and then terminating Machado.

"The Cleveland Clinic Florida has cooperated fully in this investigation and is also conducting an internal risk assessment to prevent such an event from happening again," the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement.

"Vigilance and swift response are key to preventing these types of crimes," Acosta said.

Machado and Ferrer, who are out on bond, face a number of criminal charges, including identity theft, fraud and wrongful disclosure of private medical information, NBC 6's Sharon Lawson reported.

The Cleveland Clinic has set up a hotline at 866-907-0675 for any patients who think that they might have fallen victim.
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Once again, we do not know if the criminals are Americans, or not.