Mayo Clinic faces lawsuits by THREE female patients who claim a male surgery resident, 28, viewed nude photographs of them in their medical files
Ahmad Alsughayer, 28, of Saginaw, Michigan, faces criminal charges after viewing hundreds of the patients nude photographs in electronic medical records without having no professional reason to do so
The Mayo Clinic is being sued by three female patients who claim that a surgery resident inappropriately viewed nude photographs of them in their medical records.
Ahmad Alsughayer, 28, of Saginaw, Michigan, faces criminal charges after allegedly viewing hundreds of patients' nude photographs in electronic medical records without having any professional reason to do so, the lawsuit claims.
He is scheduled to have his first court appearance in the criminal matter in early July.
The Olmsted County attorney's office initially charged Alsughayer with one count of unauthorized computer access in April, for allegedly viewing the records of 1,614 patients.
The three women have sued Mayo with the most recent lawsuit filed in May, The Star Tribune reports.
Two of the lawsuits seek class-action status.
One of the lawsuits, filed by a woman identified under the pseudonym 'K.M.M,' alleges that Mayo failed to use a feature in its electronic health records system that would have limited access to highly sensitive medical records and prevented the breach.
One of the lawsuits, filed by a woman identified under the pseudonym 'K.M.M,' alleges Mayo failed to use a feature in its electronic health records system that would have limited access to highly sensitive medical records and prevented the breach.
'K.M.M,' is currently in Minnesota's Safe at Home program for anonymity following a rape years earlier, according to The Star Tribune.
'It was like being raped again,' she told the publication Tuesday. 'When you lose control of your pictures ... it's like being totally violated.'
A plaintiff in a second lawsuit, Olga Ryabchuk of Olmsted County, said she believed Mayo personnel were not truthful when they said the investigation couldn't find a medical reason for the breach, and that Mayo would never understand why this happened, according to the Star Tribune.
'This representation was false,' Ryabchuk's lawsuit says. 'Mayo Clinic already knew, but did not tell plaintiff, that Alsughayer had requested access to these 1,600+ EHRs to view naked images of female patients ... and that Mayo Clinic chose not to implement the fixes and protections proper to have prevented this incident.'
EHRs refers to the electronic health records the surgeon was said to have accessed.
The Olmsted County attorney's office initially charged Alsughayer with one count of unauthorized computer access in April, for allegedly viewing the records of 1,614 patients.
A third lawsuit is pending with similar allegations, alleging that Mayo was aware Alsughayer had requested access to the records, but chose not to take precautions to prevent it.
In a news statement released on Oct. 5, Mayo Clinic said that on Aug. 5, it confirmed 'suspicious access' to medical records of 1,614 patients by one former employee.
In letters to patients, Mayo said an unnamed employee had inappropriately accessed files with their name, demographic information, date of birth, medical record number, clinical notes, 'and, in some instances, images.'
Because of the number of patients affected, Mayo staff notified police and the FBI, a Mayo spokeswoman told the Star Tribune last November.
In addition, Mayo also reported the incident to 'applicable licensing boards.'
The clinic said Alsughayer's employment 'was ending' when the breach was discovered.
Alsughayer can be seen a video posted to an academic journal's web page discussing a medical issue. It's titled: 'Does IBD Portend Worse Outcomes in Patients with Rectal Cancer? A Case-Matched Analysis?' referring to irritable bowel disease.
He's listed on the Doximity site, which says it's a network for verified profiles of doctors, as being a resident physician and a research fellow in general surgery. He's listed as having graduated from the Jordan University of Science and Technology in 2016.
Marsh Halberg, who said he's Alsughayers's attorney in the criminal case, according to the Star Tribune, declined to comment. He's expected to face his first court appearance in the criminal matter in July, the newspaper said.
It hasn't been determined whether the attempt for a class action will be certified by a judge, the paper said.