courtesy photo
Lamoille Health Family Dentisry office in Morrisville Plaza was subject to a data breach in 2023.
MORRISTOWN – Lamoille Health Partners (LHP) has agreed to pay $540,000 to resolve claims that it failed to prevent a 2022 data breach.
Lamoille Health Partners is a health program system that provides services to Lamoille County.
The company hasn’t admitted wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to resolve the class action lawsuit.
LHP CEO Stuart G. May wrote of the data breach that was discovered on June 13, 2022,“we discovered that an unknown, unauthorized third party locked some of our files in a ransomware attack.”
Under the settlement terms, individuals can receive an estimated payment of $50, as well as up to $5,000 for documented, unreimbursed out-of-pocket losses related to the data breach. Class members can claim losses such as credit expenses, bank fees, unauthorized charges, travel expenses and more.
A valid claim form must be submitted by June 20, 2024, to receive settlement benefits,
The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2024.
The LHP network includes Lamoille Health Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Dentistry, and Behavioral Health and Wellness, all in Morrisville; Lamoille Health Family Medicine and Pharmacy of Stowe; and Lamoille Health Family Medicine in Cambridge
In his letter, May’s wrote, “In a ransomware attack, a criminal deploys malicious software to lock an organization’s files until the organization pays a ransom or restores their data from backups. Upon learning of the incident, we promptly employed our established protocols and securely restored our systems from backups. We also notified law enforcement and worked with a cybersecurity firm to investigate the incident. The investigation determined that an unauthorized third party may have accessed and acquired certain documents from our systems between June 12, 2022, and June 13, 2022.
In August 2022 WCAX reported, “Although it was a ransomware attack, May says the clinic did not have to pay any money to regain access to their system.
“He also says that they still don’t know who was behind the attack and the investigation is still ongoing.”
Full details of the settlement agreement are available at lamoillehealthsettlement.com.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
