A former executive at Alphabet’s health technology subsidiary Verily is suing the company, alleging it covered up repeated violations of federal patient privacy law that affected tens of thousands of people, CNBC reported Sept. 11.
Here are seven things to know:
- The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims Verily used protected health information without authorization in research, marketing and public presentations.
- Ryan Sloan, who served as chief commercial officer of the company’s diabetes and hypertension unit Onduo, said he was fired after raising concerns about the breaches.
- Internal investigators at Verily confirmed multiple violations of at least 14 separate HIPAA business associate agreements between 2017 and 2021, the complaint alleges. More than 25,000 patients in Onduo’s diabetes program may have been impacted, CNBC reported.
- The filing states that companies including Walgreens Boots Alliance, Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health, Quest Diagnostics and Delta Air Lines could have been affected. Some of those organizations told CNBC they were reviewing the allegations, while others declined to comment.
- Verily sought to have Mr. Sloan’s complaint dismissed or moved to arbitration, but a judge denied that request.
- A Verily spokesperson told CNBC the allegations are “completely without merit” and said the company intends to defend itself. Mr. Sloan’s representatives declined to comment to the publication.
- Mr. Sloan joined Verily in 2020 and was terminated in early 2023 while on family medical leave, according to the lawsuit.
Verily, part of Alphabet’s “Other Bets” portfolio, was launched in 2015 out of the Google X lab.
The news comes shortly after Verily announced that it would be ending its medical device program and cutting staff as the company redirects more resources to AI.
