Laptops stolen from California health care organization

Five stolen laptops containing tens of thousands of medical records were recently stolen from Fullerton, Calif.-based St. Jude Heritage Medical Group.

How many victims? More than 20,000.

What type of personal information? Social Security numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, health-related information.

What happened? Thieves stole the computers from the St. Jude Heritage Healthcare Clinical Management Services building.

Details: There have been no reports of stolen personal information being used illegally.

Quote: "The data that was stolen originated from private practice physicians," St. Jude Heritage Healthcare spokesman Kevin Andrus said in a statement. “St. Jude Heritage Healthcare is an administrative foundation that contracts with physicians, so that's why the data was there.”

What was the response? Letters have been sent to affected individuals, who have been offered a one-year subscription for credit monitoring and restoration services.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/index, KABC-TV Los Angeles, “O.C. St. Jude warns patients of stolen data,” April 20, 2010.