Month:April 2019
“Grounding”: Federal Regulation in the Context of Aircraft Suspensions
On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 en route to Nairobi, Kenya crashed shortly after take-off leaving no survivors. It became the carrier’s most deadly crash and its first fatal crash since January 2010. Most notably, however, it was the second fatal crash involving Boeing’s new 737 MAX jet in less than five months after the Lion Air Flight 610 accident in October 2018. The day following the tragedy, Ethiopian Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet until further notice. Many other airlines suspended operations of the aircraft as well and countless countries banned the 737 MAX from airspace.
Data Privacy Rules Step Up to the Next Level
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently proposed two amendments to the Privacy Rule and Safeguards Rule under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”). The Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security system. This rule went into effect in 2003. The Privacy Rule requires financial institutions to inform customers about its information-sharing practices and allows customers to opt out of having their information shared with certain third parties. This rule went into effect in 2000. The recent amendments to these two rules are intended to further protect consumers’ data from third parties. However, the changes could also adversely affect businesses.
Protecting PHI as the Health Care Industry Promotes Shift to TeleMedicine
In a time where much of the healthcare industry has shifted to incorporate telehealth and telemedicine, health care organizations and providers are faced with the upkeep of the growing influx of patient data and the challenges associated with their obligation to maintain patient privacy. These challenges increasingly more burdensome as providers strive to keep up to date with the advancement of technology. Healthcare organizations must maintain patient privacythrough close monitoring of clouds, employee use of mobile devices, patient access to medical information and scheduling, and access to the provider networks through non-organizational devices. Maintaining the multiple platforms is costly and the industry remains at risk due to the rising volumes of cybersecurity attacks and breaches. UConn Health recently experienced a data breachthat necessitated notifying 326,000 people of potential impact to their protected health information (PHI) including names, dates of birth, address, billing information, and even social security numbers due to potential access by an unauthorized person.
Lessons from Theranos
Theranos, the health-tech and medical lab startup, was once one of the most hyped companies to come out of Silicon Valley. In 2014, after catching the attention of high-profile investors, the company reached a valuation of $9 billion. Following several employee and journalistic leaks in 2015, however, the public began to see the company for what it was, a fraud. An October 3, 2016 Inside Compliance article titled “Theranos: New Compliance Program Hopes to Save the Company,” was written following Theranos’ appointment of two outside executives to oversee regulatory, quality, and compliance standards. It is now clear that these efforts to save Theranos were too little too late, but we see some useful takeaways from Theranos’ downfall. This article will explore the key lessons learned as it relates to leadership, ethics, and compliance.