Child patients become victims of laptop theft

Healthcare and Public Health // California, United States

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) made public on 1/21/13 the theft of a laptop containing patient medical information. The hospital has since notified affected individuals. The laptop was stolen from a physician’s car at an off-campus location. The laptop has yet to be recovered. The computer held basic patient details and medical descriptors but no financial information or Social Security numbers. The laptop was password-protected, and the LPCH has “no indication that any of the patient information has been accessed or compromised,” according to Robert Dicks, LPCH spokesman; http://www.lpch.org/aboutus/news/releases/2013/for-patients.html