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Hundreds Of Patient Records Dumped On Street
Doctor Evicted From Office
POSTED: 2:58 pm EDT October 13, 2006



Hundreds of patients of a bankrupt Colorado doctor may be at risk for identity theft after his patients' records were dumped in a parking lot.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- Hundreds of patients of a bankrupt Colorado doctor may be at risk for identity theft after his patients' records were dumped in a parking lot when he was evicted from his office Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Charles Kay, who runs Orchard Family Practice in Englewood, Colo., was evicted from his office.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department and the building management supervised the eviction while the doctor was not on site. Everything inside the doctor's office was dumped in the parking lot, including file cabinets full of personal patient information, Denver TV station KMGH reported.
Kay said the documents may contain patients' Social Security records, dates of birth and addresses. He said he had not had a chance to look at the records that were left out since he had just driven up and saw what was happening.
And before he drove up, witnesses said cabinets and desks, some with documents, were carted off by scavengers.
Kay had been practicing for 15 years and recently declared bankruptcy. He said he was given a three-day notice before the court-ordered eviction, and while he moved all patient folders to a secure location, he didn't have enough time to shred all of the sensitive documents including business records with patients.
So, who's responsible for exposing hundreds of patients to identity theft? Is it the doctor, the sheriff's department or the building managers?
Tom List, the lawyer for the management company who oversaw the eviction, wouldn't talk.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, which had a deputy on site, has begun an investigation into whether agency policies were violated. A department official said his deputy's "legal requirement is to keep the peace," but "we are also required to exercise good judgement." and "that would not allow for patient records outside where they can be taken and used for identity theft."
Meanwhile, the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said federal laws could have been violated, but it is the doctor who is responsible for safeguarding the records.
But that is little comfort to patients who may now want to keep a close eye on their credit reports.
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