Health care providers Navvis & Company, LLC (Navvis) and SSM Health Care Corporation (SSM) have agreed to resolve claims that they failed to prevent a data breach in July 2023 that compromised sensitive patient information. The two health care providers work jointly to provide medical services in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
According to the class action suit, Doe, et al. v. SSM Health Care Corporation d/b/a SSM Health, et al., Case No. 2422-CC00208-01, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis, Missouri, a data security incident occurred between July 12, 2023, and July 25, 2023, when unauthorized users allegedly gained access to Navvis’ network, deployed ransomware and obtained unauthorized access to Navvis’ files, including private information of approximately 2.8 million individuals.
“We are pleased to have settled this data breach claim that exposed confidential information for a tremendous number of patients who entrusted their data to Navvis and SSM in good faith,” said John (Jack) Garvey, who served as class counsel for the plaintiffs and is a founding member of Stranch, Jennings & Garvey (SJ&G).
Navvis provided notification of the incident to all potentially impacted individuals beginning on or about September 22, 2023, and concluding on June 6, 2024.
While Navvis and SSM have not admitted to any wrongdoing, they have agreed to a $6.5 million class action lawsuit settlement, providing class members with the opportunity to receive reimbursement up to $7,000 each for out-of-pocket expenses and extraordinary losses suffered from the data breach, credit monitoring services and pro rata cash payments to compensate for the loss of privacy associated with the breach.
“While both of these defendants decline to admit to any blame in the July 2023 incident, it is the belief of the plaintiffs that Navvis and SSM could have prevented the breach with judicious cybersecurity measures,” Garvey said. “We are satisfied that a reasonable settlement has been agreed upon to help the class members recover from this avoidable incident.”
In addition to Garvey, the plaintiffs were represented by SJ&G attorneys Colleen Garvey, Andrew Mize and Ellen Thomas.