SACRAMENTO -- Kaiser Permanente will pay the state millions of dollars in penalties for illegally dumping hazardous waste, medical supplies, and patient information.
Attorney General Bonta announced in a press conference Thursday with District Attorney's officials across the state a $49 Million settlement with Kaiser for the illegal disposal. The deal comes after undercover inspections of dumpsters at 16 different Kaiser facilities, including those in San Joaquin County.
"The illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste puts the environment, workers, and the public at risk. It also violates numerous federal and state laws," said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Investigators found hundreds of medical and hazardous wastes such as aerosols, cleansers, sanitizers, batteries, electronic wastes, syringes, medical tubing with body fluids, and pharmaceuticals) and over 10,000 paper records containing over 7,700 patient information.
"As a healthcare provider, Kaiser should know that it has specific legal obligations to properly dispose of medical waste and safeguard patients' medical information. I am pleased that Kaiser has been cooperative with my office and the district attorneys' offices, and that it took immediate action to address the alleged violations."
Kaiser Permanente Statement as of September 8, 2023
"Kaiser Permanente is committed to the health and well-being of our members, patients, employees, physicians, and the communities we serve, which includes proper waste disposal and protecting the confidentiality of member and patient information. Millions of people receive care and support in our hundreds of medical facilities across California each year, and we have well-established policies and procedures for disposing of the different kinds of resulting waste items.
About six years ago, we became aware of occasions when, contrary to our rigorous policies and procedures, some facilities' landfill-bound dumpsters included items that should have been disposed of differently. Upon learning of this issue, we immediately completed an extensive auditing effort of the waste stream at our facilities and established mandatory and ongoing training to address the findings. All Kaiser Permanente staff and physicians in California take this required annual training. We also introduced specialized equipment, instructions, and receptacles placed closest to where waste is generated to ensure all types of waste are disposed of properly, and we introduced more environmentally friendly products to enhance our long-standing environmental compliance measures.
We take this matter extremely seriously and have taken full responsibility to acknowledge and, in cooperation with the California Attorney General and county district attorneys, correct our performance regarding landfill-bound trash where it may have fallen short of our standards. We dedicated many hours to identifying and closing gaps to strengthen our regulated waste disposal program and are confident in our ability not only to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements of this settlement but to comply with the numerous requirements that apply to the different kinds of waste that result from caring for millions of Californians.
To address this issue, Kaiser Permanente developed a three-step approach that includes:
1. Assessment of hospitals, medical office buildings, and other facilities to identify the types of waste generated and to provide the right receptacles so that it is as easy and convenient as possible for our staff and physicians to dispose of waste in the appropriate receptacles;
2. Worksite rounding to observe disposal techniques and to provide just-in-time training to ensure compliance with proper practices and
3. Training, which every employee and physician in California is required to participate in annually, on proper waste disposal processes.
We are not aware of any body part being found at any time during this investigation."
Following this settlement, patients may be concerned about paper records containing patient information. President and CEO of Identity Theft Resource Center Eva Velasquez says patients need to know what information was discarded.
"We need people to know what data they are talking about. 'Is it my foundational identity information i.e., my name, date of birth, address, and phone number," said Velasquez.
And encourage those to update their password and digital information as a caution.
"Your email address, or maybe it's even your username and password for your digital portal in your health portal. Then you absolutely want to change the password on those accounts so those can't gain access to them. "
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In: Kaiser Permanente
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SACRAMENTO -- Kaiser Permanente will pay the state millions of dollars in penalties for illegally dumping hazardous waste, medical supplies, and patient information.
Attorney General Bonta announced in a press conference Thursday with District Attorney's officials across the state a $49 Million settlement with Kaiser for the illegal disposal. The deal comes after undercover inspections of dumpsters at 16 different Kaiser facilities, including those in San Joaquin County.
"The illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste puts the environment, workers, and the public at risk. It also violates numerous federal and state laws," said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Investigators found hundreds of medical and hazardous wastes such as aerosols, cleansers, sanitizers, batteries, electronic wastes, syringes, medical tubing with body fluids, and pharmaceuticals) and over 10,000 paper records containing over 7,700 patient information.
"As a healthcare provider, Kaiser should know that it has specific legal obligations to properly dispose of medical waste and safeguard patients' medical information. I am pleased that Kaiser has been cooperative with my office and the district attorneys' offices, and that it took immediate action to address the alleged violations."
Kaiser Permanente Statement as of September 8, 2023
"Kaiser Permanente is committed to the health and well-being of our members, patients, employees, physicians, and the communities we serve, which includes proper waste disposal and protecting the confidentiality of member and patient information. Millions of people receive care and support in our hundreds of medical facilities across California each year, and we have well-established policies and procedures for disposing of the different kinds of resulting waste items.
About six years ago, we became aware of occasions when, contrary to our rigorous policies and procedures, some facilities' landfill-bound dumpsters included items that should have been disposed of differently. Upon learning of this issue, we immediately completed an extensive auditing effort of the waste stream at our facilities and established mandatory and ongoing training to address the findings. All Kaiser Permanente staff and physicians in California take this required annual training. We also introduced specialized equipment, instructions, and receptacles placed closest to where waste is generated to ensure all types of waste are disposed of properly, and we introduced more environmentally friendly products to enhance our long-standing environmental compliance measures.
We take this matter extremely seriously and have taken full responsibility to acknowledge and, in cooperation with the California Attorney General and county district attorneys, correct our performance regarding landfill-bound trash where it may have fallen short of our standards. We dedicated many hours to identifying and closing gaps to strengthen our regulated waste disposal program and are confident in our ability not only to meet the monitoring and reporting requirements of this settlement but to comply with the numerous requirements that apply to the different kinds of waste that result from caring for millions of Californians.
To address this issue, Kaiser Permanente developed a three-step approach that includes:
1. Assessment of hospitals, medical office buildings, and other facilities to identify the types of waste generated and to provide the right receptacles so that it is as easy and convenient as possible for our staff and physicians to dispose of waste in the appropriate receptacles;
2. Worksite rounding to observe disposal techniques and to provide just-in-time training to ensure compliance with proper practices and
3. Training, which every employee and physician in California is required to participate in annually, on proper waste disposal processes.
We are not aware of any body part being found at any time during this investigation."
Following this settlement, patients may be concerned about paper records containing patient information. President and CEO of Identity Theft Resource Center Eva Velasquez says patients need to know what information was discarded.
"We need people to know what data they are talking about. 'Is it my foundational identity information i.e., my name, date of birth, address, and phone number," said Velasquez.
And encourage those to update their password and digital information as a caution.
"Your email address, or maybe it's even your username and password for your digital portal in your health portal. Then you absolutely want to change the password on those accounts so those can't gain access to them. "
More from CBS News
Minnesota meat processing company fined $300K for illegally employing children
Southern Ute, Ute Mtn. Tribes receive $2+ million from state opioid settlement
Air district launches tool to search notices of violation around region
Authorities warn against big "LA to the Bay" sideshow planned for this weekend
In: Kaiser Permanente
First published on September 8, 2023 / 6:09 PM
Minnesota meat processing company fined $300K for illegally employing children
Southern Ute, Ute Mtn. Tribes receive $2+ million from state opioid settlement
Air district launches tool to search notices of violation around region
Authorities warn against big "LA to the Bay" sideshow planned for this weekend
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