NEWS & INSIGHT

Keller Postman LLC Files First Class Action Against DuPage Medical Group for Massive Data Breach

September 2, 2021

Keller Postman LLC yesterday filed a class action lawsuit against DuPage Medical Group (DMG) on behalf of patients whose sensitive medical information was stolen in a massive data breach.

On behalf of two patients as class representatives, the complaint alleges negligence, breach of contract, and violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, among other allegations. In the first lawsuit filed as a result of this data breach, Keller Postman seeks to obtain compensation and further protections for victims as well as improvements to DMG’s data security systems.

DMG, Illinois’ largest independent physicians group, revealed on August 30 that “unauthorized actors” accessed its network in July, exposing highly sensitive personal information and medical records of nearly 600,000 patients. The compromised information includes names, addresses, dates of birth, diagnosis codes, medical procedure data, treatment dates, social security numbers, and other protected health information as defined by HIPAA.

Keller Postman’s complaint alleges that DMG’s inadequate safeguarding of its patients’ information led to the unauthorized access, and that DMG then failed to provide timely and adequate notice of what information was accessed and stolen. It also alleges that, as a result of the unauthorized access and DMG’s delayed discovery of the breach, patients have suffered ascertainable losses, including the loss of the value in their private and confidential information, loss of benefit of their contractual bargain, out-of-pocket expenses, and the value of their time incurred to remedy the effects of the data breach.

“The patients harmed in this data breach are now at serious, imminent risk of fraud and identity theft,” Keller Postman Partner Seth Meyer said. “DMG failed to take the necessary steps to secure private, sensitive information entrusted to them by their patients. On behalf of our clients, we intend to hold DMG accountable for putting hundreds of thousands of patients’ information at risk.”

In addition to compensatory damages and reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs, plaintiffs seek improvements to DMG’s data security systems, future annual audits, and adequate credit monitoring services funded by DMG.

Keller Postman leads class actions throughout the nation on behalf of thousands of individuals whose sensitive personal information has been stolen. “We hope our work across this practice has a lasting impact to ensure that consumers’ interests are protected in these situations long into the future,” Meyer said.

Keller Postman attorneys representing the plaintiffs include Meyer and Associate Alex Dravillas. Todd S. Garber of Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP is co-counsel on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The action is Hestrup & Peiss v. DuPage Medical Group. Ltd. d/b/a DuPage Medical Group, No. 2021L000937 and is filed in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court, DuPage County.

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*As of April 2022, the firm has changed its name from Keller Lenkner to Keller Postman.

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