Lincare sued over data breach

CLEARWATER, Fla. – A lawsuit has been filed against Lincare, alleging the provider was negligent in ensuring the protection of customer data. 

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed on behalf of Catherine Cottam on July 14 in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida. 

In an email to HME News, Lincare stated: 

“In September 2021, Lincare identified unusual activity on certain systems within its network.  We took immediate action to secure our network, notified law enforcement, launched an investigation, and engaged outside cybersecurity experts to assess the nature and scope of the incident. It was determined that certain systems were subject to unauthorized access. Lincare conducted a comprehensive review of those systems and worked diligently to provide notice to individuals whose information may have been involved in the incident. This incident did not have any impact on Lincare’s business operations or our ability to provide services to our patients. We take the protection of personal information very seriously and sincerely regret any inconvenience that this incident may have caused our patients, partners, and employees.” 

The lawsuit states that, although Lincare learned of the breach in September, it didn’t notify Cottam and others until June 2022, nearly eight months later. 

The affected data included at least “first and last names, addresses, Lincare account numbers, date of birth, medical information, which may include information concerning medical treatments individuals received such as provider name, dates of service, diagnosis/procedure, and/or account or record numbers, health insurance information, and/or prescription information.” 

Since the time of the data breach, the defendant has received numerous calls from various scammers attempting to get her to sign up for medical benefits and other scams, according to the lawsuit.