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Computer containing health records stolen from car's backseat

Healthcare Security Weekly, May 9, 2005

Someone stole a computer containing the confidential health records of more than 16,000 Colorado families last October, and many of the victims are just finding out, reports TheDenverChannel.com.

The records, which researchers for an anonymous autism study collected without the families' knowledge, are loaded on a computer which was stolen from the backseat of a state health department employee's car. The employee's car was stolen from a residential lot. Police recovered the car a few days later, but the computer was missing.

State law does not require the state health department to notify families of the missing information. However, some hospitals sent letters to families in January. More than 1,200 families have not been notified.

There is no evidence that the missing information has been accessed.

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