Celebrities’ Health Information Compromised By Sony Hacking

Fox Rothschild partner Scott Vernick recently appeared as a guest on the Willis Report to discuss fallout of the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment.  Click here to view the segment.  Celebrities' individually identifiable health information, some of which appears to be protected health information ("PHI") under HIPAA, was among the sensitive personal data hacked into.  According to one report, a file was accessed that contains a list of the highest-cost patients covered by Sony Pictures' health plan. 

As a covered entity, a health plan (and/or its business associate) that suffers a breach of plan members' PHI may find itself subject to civil monetary penalties imposed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") that can be substantial, particularly if HHS determines the HIPAA violation was due to willful neglect and was not corrected during the 30-day period beginning on the first date the health plan (or its business associate, if the