Boxes of medical records dumped in parking lot

05:36 PM PDT on Saturday, May 6, 2006
By JESSE JONES / KING 5 News  /  Seattle, WA

Records from Midway Dental were taken to a recycling bin by mistake.

KENT - If you were a patient of Midway Dental Center in Kent during the 
early 1990s, your medical files may have been sitting near a recycling bin 
in the parking lot of a Federal Way grocery store since Friday morning. 

Bruce Berghegger called the police after making the discovery.  

“I just couldn't believe what I was seeing,” he said. “People's files, 
their health information, insurance numbers, cancelled checks, social 
security numbers,” said Berghegger. 

Police found out the records came from the Midway Dental Center. They 
called Dr. Ashok Lalli and his wife Bala and told them their files were 
found. 

“I was shaking all the way because ultimately it was our records that we 
are responsible for,” said Bala. 

The Lallis say the records were mistakenly taken by a salvage company. They 
were supposed to remove restaurant equipment from another building they 
owned, but right by the equipment sat the files. 

Lalli said the company was asked to take the restaurant equipment, not the 
records. 

Ricky Andrews, the man responsible for moving the equipment, says he hired 
recyclers to handle the medical records. Some went to a recycling center, 
the rest were dumped. 

After about a half hour of dumpster diving, all the records were secured. 
Now comes the tough task of making sure the records are complete. 

According to state law, medical records are supposed to be retained for 10 
years. 

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance