BUTTE — A North Carolina-based imaging company that provides administrative services to radiology practices notified Butte residents that an unauthorized person gained access to their personal and medical information.
WATCH: Lumexa data breach exposes medical records of Butte residents
Lumexa sent letters on June 12 with return addresses to a PO Box in California, notifying at least a dozen Butte residents that an unauthorized individual had gained access to its system. According to the company's website, almost 3,000 people were impacted by the data breach.
Compromised data included names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, insurance information, and clinical information such as office visits, diagnoses, and other information related to radiology services.
Several people who received the letters said they threw them in the garbage. Others assumed the letters were a scam.
According to information on the Lumexa homepage, the company is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for HIPAA violations. About a dozen states are part of a class action lawsuit involving the data breach, which occurred from March 31 to April 9.
A Lumexa representative confirmed the scope of the breach.
"All of your information was viewed, so I totally agree with that. It was a HIPAA violation," the representative said.
When asked how people will be protected going forward, the representative described the steps the company has taken.
"We have removed unauthorized software, and we have also reset all of the passwords," the representative said.
Lumexa has also deployed cybersecurity monitoring and detection to prevent the issue from recurring. Affected individuals were advised to monitor their bank accounts. For those whose Social Security numbers were compromised, the company is offering complimentary monitoring services.
I reached out to the Butte hospital, which said it is working on a response to my questions.
I also reached out to Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and a representative stated that Montana is not part of the class action lawsuit against Lumexa.
This story will be updated.
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