Fox News Flash top headlines for December 17
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Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles (PPLA) is facing a class-action lawsuit after an October cyberattack exposed the health information of more than 400,000 patients.
One of those patients brought the suit last week, alleging that she suffered anxiety and stress as a result of the breach. According to HIPAA Journal, the lawsuit alleges that PPLA violated state and federal privacy laws by failing to provide adequate safeguards against a hack.
Anti-abortion demonstrators hold a protest outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri, May 31, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The ransomware attack reportedly occurred on Oct. 9 but wasn't discovered until Oct. 17, as PPLA noted in a letter to patients. In total, more than 409,759 patients were affected, and the data included highly sensitive information such as treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and procedures performed by the abortion clinic.
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Other victims allege they have had to pay out of pocket for costs like securing their accounts after the breach.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
On Dec. 1, PPLA posted a notice in which it said there was an ongoing investigation.
Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral members gather outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic to support abortion law in New York City on Dec. 4, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"As soon as we determined what files were involved, PPLA began a review of those files to determine whether any contained patient information," the notice read.
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"On November 4, we identified files that contained certain patients’ names, and one or more of the following: dates of birth, addresses, insurance identification numbers, and clinical data, such as diagnosis, treatment, or prescription information," the PPLA statement continued.
"While at this time, we have no evidence that any information involved in this incident has been used for fraudulent purposes, out of an abundance of caution, PPLA is mailing notification letters to patients whose information was contained in documents that were exfiltrated from our systems. We also encourage patients to review statements from their healthcare providers or health insurers and contact them immediately if they see charges for services they did not receive."
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