Man Indicted on Charges of Illegally Obtaining Patient Information

A 67-year-old Mayfield Heights man was indicted Thursday on charges he illegally obtained personal patient information at a local hospital, the U.S. Attorney’s Northern District of Ohio office said.

Henry L. Thrasher faces a three-count indictment that he violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, said Carole Rendon, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Thrasher is charged with hacking a Cleveland hospital’s computer system and obtaining the health information of a number of patients. Also, Thrasher is charged with disclosing the information with malicious and harmful intent to another individual. Officials would not identify the hospital.

The indictment alleges Thrasher used a female nurse’s identity to log into the hospital’s voicemail and e-mail accounts to obtain personal patient information without permission from June 7 to June 22 in 2011.

The maximum sentence could be 10 years if Thrasher is convicted.