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"MORGANTOWN -- A Morgantown man is suing West Virginia University Medical Corporation for negligence for allowing an employee to access his medical records on three occasions.<br /><br />West Virginia University Medical Corporation is doing business as University Health Associates.<br /><br />On Dec. 15, 2009, Randy Friend received a letter from a representative of University Health Associates, which indicated that an employee had accessed his medical records without authorization, according to a complaint filed in Monongalia Circuit Court.<br /><br />Friend claims the letter indicated that the employee had accessed his records on at least three occasions.<br /><br />The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, places a duty to protect medical records from unauthorized access upon the entity storing the medical records, according to the suit.<br /><br />Friend claims Rachel Friend, a former University Health Associates employee accessed his medical records on Sept. 14, 2009, Oct. 27, 2009 and Nov. 10, 2009, while she was on staff at UHA.<br /><br />Rachel Friend relayed the information located in his medical records to several people living in Randy Friend's community, causing him emotional distress and embarrassment, according to the suit.<br /><br />Randy Friend claims USA allowed Rachel Friend to access the records without proper authorization.<br /><br />The defendant failed to properly protect Randy Friend's medical records from unauthorized access which violates the requirements of HIPAA, according to the suit.<br /><br />Randy Friend is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is being represented by Jennifer M. McGinley.<br /><br /><em>Monongalia Circuit Court case number: 11-C-774</em>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510602049-morgantown-man-blames-wvu-for-medical-record-breach>