Doctor Charged with Disclosing Protected Individual Health Information

NORFOLK, VA—Richard Alan Kaye, 62, of Suffolk, Va., was indicted by a federal grand jury today for the wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement. If convicted, Kaye faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

According to the indictment, Kaye is licensed to practice osteopathic medicine in Virginia and was the Medical Director of the Psychiatric Care Center at Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk, Virginia. He is alleged to have provided in-patient mental health treatment to a patient from August 20, 2007 to September 4, 2007, and in his discharge summary indicated that the patient was not considered a danger to others. On three occasions in February 2008, Kaye disclosed, without authorization, the patient’s individually identifiable health information to an agent of the patient’s employer. Kaye made the unauthorized disclosure under the false pretenses that the patient was a serious and imminent threat to the safety of the public, when in fact he knew that the patient was not such a threat.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Alan M. Salsbury is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.