Malicious Use of PHI Lands Woman in Jail
In a strange case of Internet harassment involving personal health information (PHI), a woman finds herself facing a year in prison for what
a judge called "egregious" behavior, according to the
Honolulu Advertiser.
Rhonda Wong-Fernandez was sent immediately to jail and will spend the next 12 months there. Wong-Fernandez, whom the Star-Bulletin referred to as a patient service representative at Straub Clinic and Hospital in Honolulu, HI, was embroiled in a feud between an AIDS patient and the patient's sister-in-law. Wong-Fernandez, a friend of the sister-in-law, used her position at Straub to access the patient's medical records. She then posted the fact that the victim was HIV positive on her MySpace page.
During the trial, a prosecutor read the words that a seemingly rueful Wong-Fernandez used, such as "no wonder she's so pale," and "I hope she dies," in addition to disclosing the patient's medical status. The patient died 2 months ago, according to KITV.com.
Despite her lawyer asked the court for probation only and the prosecutor recommending a 30-day jail sentence, according to the Honolulu Advertiser, Circuit Judge Randal Lee sentenced Wong-Fernandez to a year in prison, a 5-year probation and 200 community service hours. She pled no contest to a felony--first-degree unauthorized computer access.
Straub fired Wong-Fernandez after the breach was discovered, the Star Bulletin noted. She accessed the victim's medical record three times over the course of nearly a year.
The case shows that malicious use of PHI isn't necessarily taken lightly. Wong-Fernandez abused her position at the clinic to harass the victim, and despite having three children under the age of 3 at home, she'll spend a year in jail for her actions. Hopefully we won't see more cases like this, but with the rise of social networking, it's not likely that this is the last time someone will use PHI with the intent to harm another person, unfortunately.