Boxes containing patients' medical records that included names, addresses, dates of birth, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers were found in an alley behind a dental office in Barstow, CA, according to a news story in the Desert Dispatch.
The records were left for at least a month outside the office of Thomas Lee, D.D.S., and Sang Yoon, D.D.S.
A call from a concerned citizen led deputies to the records. According to reports from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's office, the boxes contained hundreds of medical records from the early 1990s to the present, according to the story.
Leaving records accessible to the public is a violation of the California civil code and penalties could include putting a dentist's license on probation or loss of a license, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs in the story.
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