Dr. Nisar A. Quraishi came to know that both latches on the shed door of his office’s storage facility had been cut and medical records of patients he had treated was stolen. According to the reports, approximately 40,000 patient records containing protected health information (PHI) were missing. The records reportedly included patients’ Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and medical histories.
Quraishi said he had “no idea” who broke into the shed and that he had not been to the property since Aug. 10, at which point the shed was still secure, the news source reported. Quraishi became aware of the issue when he was contacted by a neighborhood resident that the lock was broken. Quraishi also told police he was unable to immediately provide any of the names of the patients whose records were stolen from the shed.
While conducting investigation, police said there were no security cameras or witnesses in the area or at the scene. According to the Journal, neighbors weren’t even aware that a break-in had occurred in the first place. It was also reported that the first floor of Quraishi’s office “is a gutted, empty space with exposed beams and no carpet.
A spokeswoman for NYU Langone Medical Center, where Quraishi has been employed since January, said the stolen records were not of NYU Langone patients.
“The patient records involved were from Dr. Quraishi’s private practice … and therefore do not include any treatments provided by him since his employment with NYU Langone as of January 2014,” said Lisa Greiner, senior director of institutional communications at NYU Langone Medical Center. “The medical records of patients who were treated at NYU Langone by Dr. Quraishi are not part of the breach in question.”
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