Stuart M. Gerson, a Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Health Care and Life Sciences practices, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office was quoted by CNBC, in “As Health Data Breaches Increase, What Do You Have to Lose?” by Dan Mangan.

Following is an excerpt:

Stuart Gerson, a lawyer whose practice includes representing companies that have heath data breaches, said that data security is "definitely much better in the wake of HIPAA," the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that became law in 1996, and since then has mandated protection standards for patient information.

"But I don't think you would give the industry more than a C-plus or B-minus, across the board," as a grade for its success in securing patient data, Gerson said, adding that that kind of report card on data security is common for other industries as well.

The Epstein Becker & Green attorney said that health company corporate boards "acknowledge their lack of training in the area, and it's a vulnerability that they want their management to address."

"Boards are increasingly focused on it, and among the reasons is that boards are being held increasingly responsible" by government agencies for lax data security, Gerson said.

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