Illegal Access of Medical Records Committed by an Organ Transplant Coordinator
In July 2024, a federal jury pronounced Trent James Russell guilty for illegally accessing the medical information of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg while he was employed as an organ transplant company coordinator. Although with respect to the charge of exposing that data online, Rusell was not found guilty.
From 2017 to 2019, Trent James Russell, a 34-year-old resident in Arlington, VA, was an organ transplant company coordinator. Russell accessed Ginsburg’s health information in January 2019 and photographed that information. When Russell found that he had lost his access to medical information, he formatted his hard drive to destroy the proof and avoid a law enforcement investigation. Of late, U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff sent Russell to prison for two years.
Trent J. Russell accessed the medical information of Ginsburg in 2019. At the time, Ginsburg was getting therapy for cancer at George Washington University Hospital and sending the data via the 4chan online message board. The exposed Ginsburg’s data contained her name, dates of treatment between 2014 and 2018, and therapies. The 4chan platform users discussed conspiracy concepts concerning Ginsburg, which involved one that she had died, and her death was being concealed so that President Trump won’t swap the Supreme Court judge.
George Washington University Hospital inspected access data and found unauthorized access to Ginsburg’s information utilizing Russell’s credentials. The unauthorized access was traced back to Rusell’s personal computer. Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC) hired Russell to be its organ transplant coordinator. Rusell got access to medical information at George Washington University Hospital to do his job, which included visiting the hospital to evaluate patients getting ready to have an organ transplant.
Russell knew that his responsibilities come with HIPAA requirements as detailed in his HIPAA training. He knew that he was not allowed to access the medical information of individuals not included in his job tasks, such as Ginsburg’s records. Coordinators of WRTC cannot access the charts of individuals like Ginsburg who were not referred to WRTC as possible organ donors.
Rusell’s interview in 2019 with regards to the unauthorized access revealed that his phone was stolen. He also denied seeing Ginsburg’s files and pointed out that other people used his hospital login details. According to Chief Data Officer Nathan Read of George Washington University Hospital, Russell’s medical records access was blocked in January 2019 when he was suspected for illegally accessing the medical records. Russell asked to get back his access a month afterward but was denied. Prosecutors stated that when Russell learned that his medical records access had ended on February 10, 2019, he formatted his personal computer to destroy the proof and stop the investigation.
The FBI’s analyzed Russell’s computer and discovered that he accessed a number of posts on 4chan including discussions and conspiracy ideas, antisemitic conspiracy thoughts, and the cover-up of Ginsburg’s death after the Democratic politicians. Though Russell claimed he lost his phone, the FBI located the phone in his home in Arlington, Virginia, and knew that it was used to access Ginsburg’s medical information.
Another suspect in the case aside from Russell was a hospital employee who accessed Ginsburg’s health data at the same time the data occurrence occurred. That individual was taken out as a suspect since they were regarded as not technically knowledgeable to share information on social media. He was still fired for accessing medical records without organization.
Russell mentioned that he never accessed the medical information of patients who were not shortlisted as organ donors. After the two-day trial at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA, Russell faced criminal charges for viewing Ginsburg’s medical records and destroying evidence. Charges for publishing the medical records on 4chan were dropped. In November 2024, Russell will hear his sentence, then pay a big fine and spend 20 years in prison.