Led by the Firm’s Healthcare Litigation and Data Privacy practice groups, and attorneys Steven I. Adler, Mohamed H. Nabulsi, Todd Nosher, Steven Teppler and Carly Rothstein, Mandelbaum Barrett PC recently secured a complete dismissal and significant win for a national clinical laboratory in an attempted class action suit involving data privacy claims in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The data privacy claims arise from an alleged breach following a purported third-party malware attack.
The Mandelbaum Team moved quickly for dismissal of plaintiff’s causes of action, including claims for breach of contract and negligence. Agreeing with the Mandelbaum Team and its lead dismissal argument, the Court ultimately held that “plaintiff does not have standing to bring the [] lawsuit, as she fails to plead an injury-in-fact” and dismissed the case on subject matter jurisdiction grounds.
Indeed, the Court made clear that, “it is difficult for this Court to conclude there has been actual misuse of plaintiff’s private healthcare data, let alone that there is a ‘realistic danger’ that Plaintiff will sustain a direct injury in the future – the necessary showing for liability on a future harm theory.”
This marks a notable victory – as this decision can be cited by other healthcare practitioners facing data privacy claims. The proliferation of malware attacks on the healthcare industry has led to a new wave of class action litigation against healthcare providers. The sheer size of healthcare provider patient databases lends itself to demands of exorbitant damages on account of the number of affected patients. Given the high stakes involved, defeating or at least degrading these actions at the pleading stage is critical to enabling the healthcare provider to avoid costly and risky litigation or to leverage more favorable settlement terms.
Mandelbaum Barrett PC’s Healthcare Litigation and Data Privacy Groups have significant experience in handling complex healthcare litigation involving allegations of data breach and privacy claims with a notable string of recent victories on behalf of their clients.
These stories are successful case results from our attorneys. Please note that results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.