Benjamin F. Johns appointed as Interim Co-Lead Counsel in Lake Charles Memorial Hospital Data Breach Litigation
A Louisiana court recently appointed Shub & Johns LLC Partner, Benjamin F. Johns, as Interim Co-Lead Counsel in a consolidated class action lawsuit against the Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association doing business as Lake Charles Memorial Health System (“LCMHS” or “Lake Charles”) after a data breach exposed patients’ personal identification and health information from within Lake Charles Memorial Hospitals’ servers.
The case is captioned Salinas et al. v. Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association, D/B/A Lake Charles Memorial Health System, No. 20213-0090. Continue reading to learn more.
Data Breach at the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital
On December 23, 2022, LCMHS, the Louisiana-based medical service provider and health system, began notifying individuals that their information was involved in a data breach that exposed personal identification information and financial information.
The company learned of the security breach in October of 2022 and immediately conducted an investigation. Lake Charles determined that between October 20, 2022 and October 21, 2022, a cybersecurity incident resulted in client files being copied from its network. Through further investigation, Lake Charles discovered that over 269,000 individuals’ information was affected.
Information including patients’ and clients’ names, member IDs, information that may have been provided during a health assessment, and more.
Lake Charles Memorial Lawsuit
On January 11, 2023, Shub & Johns LLC filed a class action lawsuit against the Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association for the potential impact that the data breach could have or has already had on affected individuals.
On August 21, 2023, the United States Court for the 14th District Court for the Parish of Calcasieu State of Louisiana ordered that putative class action cases against Lake Charles were to be consolidated. The court also appointed Benjamin F. Johns, a seasoned litigator at Shub & Johns LLC, as Interim co-Lead Class Counsel in the data breach Litigation.
If you received a notice letter from LCMHS or the Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association indicating that your information was involved in a data breach and you are experiencing instances of fraud or notice any suspicious activity, let us know! Complete the attached form, and a Shub & Johns Member will get in touch with you soon!
