Attorney General Todd Rokita is filing a lawsuit on behalf of the people of Indiana against Apria Healthcare LLC for a massive data breach that impacted at least 42,000 Hoosiers and 1.8 million people nationwide.
Apria is a provider of home healthcare equipment and related services across the United States. Apria provides medical equipment to over 2 million patients across 270 locations, including Indiana.
On September 1st, 2021, the FBI notified Apria that an unauthorized third party was likely able to access their system. The intruder accessed millions of documents containing protected health information and other personal information, as well as several Apria employee email accounts, including Apria’s CEO’s.
Apria failed to notify patients about the 2019 and 2021 data breaches until May of 2023; 629 days after the breaches were discovered. Apria’s delayed notification and actions resulted in alleged violations of HIPAA and Indiana law.
Apria allegedly concealed the data breach from its consumers and failed to implement HIPAA policies and procedures. Due to a lack of security and technical safeguards, the unwelcome third party was able to access personal health information and personally identifiable information, such as Social Security Numbers, birth certificates, credit and debit card information, medical histories, addresses, and other identifiable information.
Apria’s parent company, Owens and Minor, allegedly knew about the breaches when it purchased Apria in March 2022.
The lawsuit consists of five counts against Apria, including Violations of HIPAA’s Notification Rule, Violations of HIPAA’s Security Rule, Violations of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule, Violations of the Disclosure of Security Breach Act, and Violations of Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.
