Privacy law and the "sleeping tiger" : Lawsuit alleges HIPAA is a toothless tiger

A privacy law lawsuit by Nurse Barbara Clark of Sacramento is seeking the help of Debra Wong Yang, the U.S. Attorney serving Los Angeles to seek a criminal indictment against a hospital attorney. According to Clark nearly $4 billion dollars a year is spent by the medical community to comply with HIPAA privacy rules, largely under threat of criminal enforcement for malicious data breaches. But, she points out, to date there have been only two convictions of individuals violating HIPAA. “The industry is beginning to realize that HIPAA is a toothless tiger, the threat is gone,” Clark said.