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40 Million Americans’ Health Data Is Stolen or Exposed Each Year. See if Your Provider Has Been Breached.
More than 40 million Americans’ medical records have been stolen or exposed so far this year because of security vulnerabilities in electronic healthcare systems, a USA TODAY analysis of Health and Human Services data found.
And the problem is steadily worsening. From 2010 to 2014, the first five years that data was collected, close to 50 million people had their medical data stolen. In the following five years, that number quadrupled. And health privacy breaches have continued to grow on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal law strictly prohibits medical institutions — hospitals, insurance companies and outpatient clinics — from sharing patient information, and requires that companies take steps to shield sensitive data from prying eyes.
More vulnerabilities have emerged as healthcare providers shift their records online and fail to protect legacy systems. Hacking accounts for about half of all security breaches, while about one-third are caused by employee errors, such as lost computers or accidental disclosures, our analysis shows.
Appeals Court Says Air Force ‘Wrongly Relied’ on Broad Formula to Deny Religious Objections to Vax Mandate
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld an injunction protecting unvaccinated Air Force service members from being punished or involuntarily terminated from the military due to religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The ruling is part of an ongoing class action lawsuit in the 6th Circuit aimed at granting relief to over 10,000 unvaccinated active duty, reserve and National Guard Air Force and Space Force members who submitted a religious exemption to the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate and were denied or are awaiting a decision. A circuit court decision had previously ordered the Air Force to halt “disciplinary or separation measures” taken against the class while the lawsuit continues.
The appeals court said in its Tuesday opinion that the Air Force “wrongly relied on its ‘broadly formulated’ reasons for the vaccine mandate to deny specific exemptions to the Plaintiffs, especially since it has granted secular exemptions to their colleagues.”
In addition, the court said the Air Force has an unlawful “‘uniform’ practice of denying religious exemptions to anyone who wants to remain in the service.”
TikTok’s Viral Challenges Keep Luring Young Kids to Their Deaths
The game had a name: the blackout challenge. Kids around the world were choking themselves with household items until they blacked out, filming the adrenaline rush they got regaining consciousness and then posting the videos on social media. It’s a modern incarnation of choking dares that have been around for decades, only now they’re being delivered to children by powerful social media algorithms and reaching those too young to fully grasp the risk.
The blackout challenge has been linked to the deaths of at least 15 kids age 12 or younger in the past 18 months, according to data Businessweek compiled from news reports, court records and interviews with family members. At least five children aged 13 and 14 also died in that time. Headlines in the wake of the deaths frequently singled out TikTok, but police departments denied Freedom of Information Act requests to see incident reports that might help prove which platform was involved if any.
Ex-Employees Sue Medline Industries After Being Fired Over COVID Vaccination Rule
Several former employees are now suing Medline Industries after they were fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Medline is based in north suburban Northfield. It ships medical supplies around the world and is now the subject of a civil rights lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court.
The former employees claim the company violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Doctors Who Are Accused of Spreading ‘Misleading Information’ Could Be Jailed Under New British Columbia Law
During the pandemic, several doctors in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) hit the headlines for opposing COVID measures. State-sanctioned medical authorities responded by warning physicians that if they “put the public at risk with misinformation,” they may face investigations and regulatory action.
Now, just 18 months later, these threats from medical authorities have evolved into a sweeping piece of legislation that includes two-year jail sentences for doctors who are deemed to be spreading certain types of “false or misleading information.”
The new legislation, Bill 36 — Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA), was approved by the legislature last Thursday and immediately received Royal Assent. A Cabinet order will determine when it comes into force.
Western University to Drop Its Vaccine Mandate, Masks Still Required on Campus
Western University has announced it will no longer require staff, students or visitors to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but masks will continue to be mandatory in classrooms on campus.
In a statement, Western said it consulted with its medical experts and London’s public health officials before making the move.
Western re-affirmed its vaccine and mask mandate in September, saying it would review its vaccination policy after the fall semester. Those living in residences needed a booster dose and were given a two-week grace period.
‘Surveillance and Control’: Vivek Ramaswamy and Tucker Carlson Discuss China-Inspired Push for a ‘Central Bank Digital Currency’
Strive Asset Management executive chairman Vivek Ramaswamy balked at the possibility of a “central bank digital currency” in the United States during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The entrepreneur rejected the notion that a digital dollar managed by the Federal Reserve would be beneficial for the economy, asserting that the project would instead open citizens to government censorship and surveillance.
Ramaswamy also dismissed the idea that adopting such a currency system would render the United States more competitive with China, which has launched a digital yuan and is encouraging residents to pivot toward the new medium of exchange.
“That’s a good path to get us to be more like China,” Ramaswamy said, “which is not a good way for the U.S. to go in terms of being a surveillance state, and actually it’s exactly for that reason that if you think about it, the U.S. could actually have a stronger dollar if it does not jump onto the CBDC bandwagon because people might want to actually hold a currency that doesn’t allow them to be the subject of surveillance and control.”
South Dakota’s Kristi Noem Bans the Use of TikTok on Government Devices, Says China Uses the Platform to ‘Manipulate’ Americans
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem banned the use of TikTok on government devices on Tuesday, saying China uses the social media platform to manipulate Americans.
“The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform,” she added.
The order, which Noem signed on Tuesday, takes effect immediately. It is unclear how many South Dakota state employees were actively using TikTok on government-owned devices.
U.S. officials have, for years, raised security concerns about TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Earlier this year Buzzfeed reported that ByteDance had repeatedly accessed non-public data about U.S. TikTok users.
DeSantis Slams Apple for Allegedly Threatening to Remove Twitter, Catering to Chinese Communist Party
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday criticized Apple for allegedly threatening to remove Twitter from its App store while reportedly preventing Chinese protesters from fully using its AirDrop feature.
DeSantis’ comments, made during a press conference in Duval County, came a day after Elon Musk alleged that Apple had “mostly” stopped advertising on Twitter and had threatened to “withhold” the social media platform from the app store.
DeSantis said that congressional action might be warranted if Apple followed through on its alleged threat against Twitter after Musk reinstated previously suspended accounts.
“That would be a huge, huge mistake, and it would be a really raw exercise of monopolistic power that I think would merit a response from the United States Congress,” he said. “Don’t be a vassal of the [Chinese Communist Party] on one hand and then use your corporate power in the United States on the other to suffocate Americans and try to suppress their right to express themselves.”
New South Wales to Withdraw or Refund Over 33,000 COVID Fines
The New South Wales government in Australia has been forced to cancel more than $30 million (€19.5 million) in fines for breaches of COVID-era public health orders after conceding they were too vague.
On Tuesday, Revenue NSW announced it had canceled some 33,000 COVID-era fines, about half the total number issued by police for breaches of the public health orders during pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Fines that had already been paid would be refunded, the spokesperson said. “A total of 33,121 fines will be withdrawn, which is around half of the total number of 62,138 COVID-19 related fines issued.”
One of the two test cases was a $3,000 fine issued to plaintiff Teal Els for “unlawfully participating in an outdoor public gathering.”
Two Chinese Cities Ease COVID Curbs After Protests Spread
The giant Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced an easing of COVID curbs on Wednesday, a day after demonstrators in southern Guangzhou clashed with police amid a string of protests against the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions.
The demonstrations, which spread over the weekend to Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere, have become a show of public defiance unprecedented since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
The southwestern city of Chongqing will allow close contacts of people with COVID-19, who fulfill certain conditions, to quarantine at home, a city official said.
Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, also announced an easing of curbs, but with record numbers of cases nationwide, there seems little prospect of a major U-turn in the “zero-COVID” policy that Xi has said is saving lives and has proclaimed as one of his political achievements.
China Plans to Boost Vaccinations Among Seniors as Harsh Zero-COVID Strategy Triggers Protests
China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday unveiled plans to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates among the elderly — a cohort that remains highly vulnerable to the virus due to very low uptake of vaccines — as it faces growing calls from experts to rethink its zero-COVID strategy and its narrow focus on harsh lockdowns and repeated mass testing.
In its plan, China’s National Health Commission said it intends to reach out to the elderly by setting up vaccination centers at nursing homes, elderly activity centers and other venues frequented by senior citizens.
Elderly people who refuse vaccination will have to provide a reason and officials will be required to keep a record of it.
The public health body has also ordered local officials to tap into various databases such as the ones keeping track of social security, medical insurance, and resident health records to effectively target seniors for vaccinations.
