Aetna customers get $17 million in HIV privacy settlement; CNN, January 17, 2018

Jacqueline Howard, CNN; Aetna customers get $17 million in HIV privacy settlement

"After thousands of customers' HIV statuses were revealed in mailings last year, a federal class-action lawsuit against health care company Aetna has reached a $17 million settlement...

It will also provide customers an opportunity to seek additional payments for out-of-pocket expenses or emotional distress damages, said Ronda Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which filed the lawsuit along with the Legal Action Center and Berger & Montague P.C.

"In addition to the financial compensation, Aetna has created what it's calling a 'best practices' document, and it's about following appropriate protocols for sharing protected health information ... with the goal of preventing this type of event from ever occurring again," Goldfein said.

"This is, as far as we can tell, the largest data breach involving HIV-related privacy.""