Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $49 million as part of a settlement with California prosecutors who say the health care giant illegally disposed of thousands of private medical records, hazardous materials and medical waste, including blood and body parts
Prosecutors started an investigation in 2015 after undercover trash inspectors found pharmaceutical drugs, and syringes, vials, canisters and other medical devices filled with human blood and other bodily fluids, and body parts removed during surgery inside bins handled by municipal waste haulers. They also found batteries, electronic devices and other hazardous waste in trash cans and bins at 16 Kaiser medical facilities throughout the state, Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
He said the undercover inspectors also found over 10,000 paper records containing the information of over 7,700 patients, which led to an investigation by prosecutors in San Francisco, Alameda, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Mateo, and Yolo counties. County officials later sought the intervention of this office, Bonta said.
Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, California, said in a statement it takes the matter extremely seriously. It said it has taken full responsibility and is cooperating with the California Attorney General and county district attorneys to correct the way some of its facilities were disposing of hazardous and medical waste.
As part of the settlement, the health care provider must also retain for five years an independent third-party auditor approved by the Attorney General’s Office and the district attorneys involved in the complaints that will check Kaiser’s compliance with California’s laws related to hazardous waste, medical waste, and the protection of patients’ health information.
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