California Courts Limit Liability For Lost Medical Information

A panel of the Court of Appeal limited the private right of action under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Civil Code § 56 et seq. ("CMIA"), holding that alleging negligent maintenance and loss of possession of confidential information is insufficient to state a cause of action.

In the putative class action, Regents of the University of California v. Superior Court, an encrypted hard drive containing confidential patient information was stolen in a home invasion robbery. The plaintiff alleged that the hospital had negligently maintained information in violation of the CMIA, but did not allege that there was any unauthorized access or viewing of her confidential information.