CA Hospital Settles Cybersecurity Case, Pledges $460K to Upgrades

San Jose, California-based Good Samaritan Hospital has reached an undisclosed settlement, which includes a nearly $460,000 commitment to cybersecurity upgrades, to resolve a class-action lawsuit originating from a 2020 data breach.

Plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit argue that Good Samaritan Hospital could have averted the data breach with appropriate cybersecurity measures but failed to safeguard its patients.

Consequently, sensitive data, including patient names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers, were reportedly compromised.

While Good Samaritan did not admit wrongdoing, the hospital agreed to resolve the class-action lawsuit.

As part of the settlement terms, class members may be entitled to cash reimbursements of up to $1,500 for expenses directly tied to the data breach. Qualifying costs can range from bank charges and payday loan interests to communication expenses and credit-related fees.

Class members who incurred significant costs due to identity theft, medical fraud, tax fraud, or other types of fraud may be eligible for higher reimbursements of up to $5,000 to compensate for fraudulent losses.

All the eligible class members of the Good Samaritan lawsuit are set to receive two years of complimentary Experian identity monitoring services. This includes $1 million in identity theft insurance and fraud resolution services, regardless of the extent of their losses.

Additionally, Good Samaritan is dedicating around $459,921.51 to significant upgrades in data security policies, aiming to better protect patient data. These improvements are slated for implementation within 90 days of the settlement becoming effective.