HIPAA Prescription Theft: A Recipe for Jail

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, healthcare workers face potential jail time for knowingly obtaining PHI without patient authorization. Recently, a New York cancer center nurse accessed patient records without authorization, to find patients who had been prescribed certain drugs. The nurse then stole the drugs. Her actions resulted in revocation of her medical license and jail time. Details of this HIPAA prescription theft are discussed below. HIPAA Prescription [...]