Judge rules in favor of OCR and requires a Texas cancer center to pay $4.3 million in penalties for HIPAA violations — $4,300,000
Resolution Jun 2018
Penalty
$4,300,000
Action type
Resolution agreement
Entity profile
MD
Case number
—
What went wrong
Judge rules in favor of OCR and requires a Texas cancer center to pay $4.3 million in penalties for HIPAA violations - June 18, 2018
- Navigate to: HIPAA for Professionals Regulatory Initiatives Privacy Summary of the Privacy Rule Guidance Combined Text of All Rules HIPAA Related Links Security Security Rule NPRM Summary of the Security Rule Security Guidance Cyber Security Guidance Breach Notification Breach Reporting Guidance Reports to Congress Regulation History Compliance & Enforcement Enforcement Rule Enforcement Process En
Full description
Navigate to: HIPAA for Professionals Regulatory Initiatives Privacy Summary of the Privacy Rule Guidance Combined Text of All Rules HIPAA Related Links Security Security Rule NPRM Summary of the Security Rule Security Guidance Cyber Security Guidance Breach Notification Breach Reporting Guidance Reports to Congress Regulation History Compliance & Enforcement Enforcement Rule Enforcement Process Enforcement Data Resolution Agreements Case Examples Audit Reports to Congress State Attorneys General Special Topics Parental Access Mental and Behavioral Health Change Healthcare Cybersecurity Incident FAQs HIPAA and COVID-19 HIPAA and Reproductive Health HIPAA and Final Rule Notice HIPAA and Telehealth HIPAA and FERPA Research Public Health Emergency Response Health Information Technology Health Apps Patient Safety Covered Entities & Business Associates Business Associate Contracts Business Associates Training & Resources FAQs for Professionals Other Administrative Simplification Rules Substance Use Disorder Confidentiality Judge rules in favor of OCR and requires a Texas cancer center to pay $4.3 million in penalties for HIPAA violations A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has ruled that The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules and granted summary judgment to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on all issues, requiring MD Anderson to pay $4,348,000 in civil money penalties (CMPs) imposed by OCR. Read the HHS Press Release Read the Notice of Proposed Determination Read the ALJ’s Decision Content last reviewed June 18, 2018
Timeline
- ResolutionJun 2018
- Incident and investigation milestones are not consistently published by OCR in machine-readable form.
Key takeaways for your organization
- Treat internet-facing systems and vendor-hosted environments as in-scope for HIPAA risk analysis and technical safeguards testing.
- Maintain an actionable risk analysis tied to remediation milestones; evidence should map to Security Rule implementation specifications.
- Align policies, procedures, and evidence with the specific CFR provisions cited in OCR resolutions affecting your entity type.
- Run tabletop exercises for breach response, OCR inquiry handling, and privilege-preserving communications with counsel.
Related actions
Source
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services release
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. medcomply.ai aggregates public materials for educational use — not legal advice.