California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Adventist Health Hanford over violations of the Unfair Competition Law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy Rule (HIPAA). The violations involved unauthorized disclosures of medical information to law enforcement concerning patients Adora Perez and Chelsea Becker. Both women experienced stillbirths at Adventist and subsequently had their protected health information (PHI) unlawfully shared with authorities, leading to their prosecution for murder.
The settlement includes $10,000 in civil penalties and injunctive terms requiring Adventist to protect patient health data from wrongful disclosure. "No woman should be penalized for the loss of her pregnancy," said Attorney General Bonta. "As we have said repeatedly, the wrongful imprisonments of both women due to unauthorized health disclosures to law enforcement were unlawful."
In December 2017, Ms. Perez suffered a stillbirth at Adventist. Without a warrant, medical personnel provided unauthorized details about her labor, the state of the fetus, and alleged drug use to law enforcement. This led to her being charged with murder under California Penal Code section 187. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to the severe potential penalty and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. In March 2022, her conviction was vacated by Kings County Superior Court after she spent four years in jail.
Similarly, in September 2019, Chelsea Becker experienced a stillbirth at Adventist. Her PHI was also unlawfully disclosed to law enforcement, resulting in her being charged with murder under California Penal Code section 187. Ms. Becker spent 16 months in jail before her case was dismissed by the trial court.
On January 6, 2022, Attorney General Bonta issued a legal alert clarifying that Penal Code section 187 does not impose criminal liability on individuals carrying a fetus for allegedly causing miscarriage or stillbirth.
The California Department of Justice’s investigation found that Adventist failed to protect the personal health information of both Ms. Perez and Ms. Becker. As part of the settlement, Adventist must revise its PHI training materials and policies; report unauthorized disclosures within ten days; maintain an anonymous reporting hotline; and require annual mandatory training for all personnel handling PHI.
A copy of the complaint and judgment can be found here and here.