Hidden Dangers Of Healthcare Data Breaches: Beyond Privacy To Patient Harm

October 1, 2025

Central Maine Healthcare, which operates several hospitals in Maine, is facing six class actions following a cyber incident that occurred in June 2025. These lawsuits allege that patient data was exposed because of negligence and a breach of an implied contract by the healthcare system.

The data breach led to the hospital system shutting down all its computer systems, which caused disruptions for patients trying to reach providers, fill prescriptions, and access medical imaging and care. Central Maine Healthcare has since fully restored its systems but has not publicly commented on the lawsuits.

The lawsuits seek damages, restitution, and measures to protect the patient information, in addition to attorney's fees.

Source: https://fox23maine.com/news/local/central-maine-healthcare-faces-six-class-action-lawsuits-over-data-breach-incident
 

Commentary

The lawsuits in the above matter contain allegations that specific patient data was exposed including patients' names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and treatment information.

The theft of this type of patient data poses profound risks beyond mere privacy violations. This sensitive information can be used for identity theft, financial fraud, and blackmail, which lead to significant emotional distress and long-term financial consequences for affected individuals.

For example, the 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare compromised data of nearly 190 million individuals, disrupting healthcare services nationwide and exposing patients to heightened risks of fraud and medical identity theft.

Studies show that medical records hold more value to criminals than credit card information because of the richness and permanence of the data, making healthcare organizations lucrative targets. This can result in improper billing, insurance fraud, or even wrongful medical treatments if inaccurate data is introduced maliciously.

Past breaches have demonstrated that lost patient trust and reputational damage to healthcare entities often far exceed direct financial losses.

Essential loss prevention steps include implementing multi-factor authentication, regular security audits, segmenting networks to isolate backups, and rapid breach detection mechanisms.

Finally, prompt patient notification and offering credit monitoring help mitigate harm, while cybersecurity education and strict access controls reduce insider threats.

Additional Sources: https://www.redactable.com/blog/healthcare-data-breaches-consequences-and-how-to-prevent-them; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7349636/; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10767628/; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268401223001007

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