LSU Health New Orleans of Medicine said 5,000 Louisiana and Mississippi residents could have their protected health information exposed after a laptop was stolen containing the data.

In a press release, LSU Health stated that no "Social Security numbers, credit card, bank account information or other financial data were stored on the laptop." Still, the laptop did include names, birthdates, treatment dates and lots of information on patient treatment, test results and diagnoses.

The school claims that Asst. Professor or Urology Dr. Christopher Roth left the laptop in his car, and it was stolen back in July. The laptop has not been recovered as of yet. It has taken eight weeks just to figure out which patients were affected by painstakingly recreating some of the laptop's data. Those affected will receive mail notifications from LSU Health.

While the exhaustive investigation appears to have found thousands of patients, others may remain unidentified. The university asks that patients of Dr. (Christopher) Roth from July 2009 to July 16, 2015, who do not receive a letter either call (504) 568-8672 or toll free 1-844-578-2656 or email LSUHSCNO-PatientQuestions@lsuhsc.edu.

You can also visit identitytheft.gov to find out the best way to recover from this incident.

The university genuinely regrets any hardships this incident may have caused. In an effort to mitigate any adverse effects arising from the theft, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans is offering a one year subscription to a credit monitoring service for patients affected by this breach. Affected patients who wish to take advantage of this offer or need additional information should call 504-568-8672.  Those patients outside the 504 area code should call 1-844-578-2656. Questions and requests can also be sent via email to LSUHSCNO-PatientQuestions@lsuhsc.edu.

 

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