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A federal judge granted a dismissal requested by IU Health. In the ruling, the judge said, "there are no factual allegations from which the Court can reasonably infer that [IU Health]'s policies, or lack thereof, have created an identifiable impending or ongoing threat to Indiana residents' privacy interests."
George Hale / WTIUJust more than two weeks after amending a patient privacy lawsuit against IU Health, the Indiana attorney general’s office filed to dismiss it. It follows a judge’s ruling that the state offered “no factual allegations” to support its initial lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from abortion care provided by Dr. Caitlin Bernard to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio in 2022. After a story from the Indianapolis Star garnered national attention, IU Health said in a statement it had investigated Bernard and concluded she had not violated patient privacy laws. Bernard was later reprimanded by the state medical licensing board.
Attorney General Todd Rokita filed the federal lawsuit in September, alleging that IU Health either did not have a policy in place to investigate HIPAA violations or that it applied it inconsistently.
A federal judge granted a dismissal requested by IU Health. In the ruling, the judge said, “there are no factual allegations from which the Court can reasonably infer that [IU Health]'s policies, or lack thereof, have created an identifiable impending or ongoing threat to Indiana residents' privacy interests.”
But the judge gave the attorney general’s office an opportunity to amend the complaint. It did so on July 22, but filed to dismiss it days later.
The attorney general’s filing said IU Health provided additional documents on its privacy training which satisfied the state’s concerns. It also said, “state and judicial resources are better served on other matters.”
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Destiny Wells, Democratic attorney general candidate, said in a statement the voluntary dismissal was a win for Hoosier taxpayers.
“Rokita’s litigation against Dr. Bernard and IU Health was nothing but a baseless witch hunt on taxpayers’ dimes,” Wells said. “Rokita’s ruthless crusade against health care professionals is a weird obsession with the doctor-patient relationship and proves to do nothing for Hoosiers except open the door to government intrusion.”
Lauren is our digital editor. Contact her at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_.
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