Suit Claims Northbrook Company Failed to Destroy Medical Records

A Northbrook firm is the subject of a suit filed this week by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan alleging the company threw away medical records in an unlocked trash container rather than destroying them.

Madigan is seeking fines against FileFax, Inc. 3405 Commercial Ave., accusing it of throwing the medical records of thousands into a container behind the building in the Sky Harbor business park, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“This company brazenly violated the law and jeopardized the personal information and privacy of thousands of Illinois residents,” Madigan said in a statement.

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Suburban Lung Associates - which provides medical care for clients with lung, allergy and sleep problems with offices in Elk Grove Village, Winfield, Naperville, Arlington Heights, Plainfield and Yorkville - is the owner of the records in question.

A spokesperson for that company called it an “isolated incident” in a statement.

The firm’s alleged failure to protect the records is a violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, the complaint states. A court could fine them up to $50,000 for each instance of violation of the law. An additional fine of $10,000 applies if the victim in question is a senior citizen.

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The complaint indicates the attorney general’s investigation is reported to have started “on or about Feb. 6,” when someone took 1,100 pounds of paper out of the container and brought it to Shred Spot, another Sky Harbor business, seeking cash for the recycled material.

“This is horrible,” said Paul Kaufmann, owner of Shred Spot and the first to inform Madigan’s office. “All these people’s information – driver’s licenses, Social Security, everything. That’s the reason there are businesses like ours.”

more via the Chicago Tribune