Three John Does filed a lawsuit in Ohio on Wednesday, March 21st, claiming that the design of a letter sent to approximately 6,000 participants in the Ohio HIV Drug Assistance Program resulted in the disclosure of the participants’ HIV status.
The John Does are seeking class action status for the other affected customers, all clients of the Ohio HIV Drug Assistance Program (OhDAP), which has had a contact with CVS since March 2017. The lawsuit alleges that the use of a windowed envelope along with the identification reference of “HIV” caused “the potential or actual disclosure of recipients’ HIV status to numerous individuals, including their families, friends, roommates, landlords, neighbors, mail carriers, and complete strangers.”
CVS has stated that the reference code was intended to refer to the name of the program and not to the health status of the recipient.
More Resources:
Doe One et al v. CVS Health Corporation et al – Docket Report
CVS Health unintentionally revealed HIV status of 6,000 customers: Lawsuit, ABC News, March 20, 2018
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