Iowa man gets 27 months in prison for sharing VA patient’s health info

An Iowa man has been sentenced June 29 to more than two years in prison for wrongfully accessing and disclosing information from patient records at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

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Justin Ortiz, 49, of Des Moines, and a hospital employee obtained information about a VA patient’s medical health that Mr. Ortiz was unauthorized to receive, and he shared it with a third party.

Mr. Ortiz committed a felony by sharing the person’s health information without consent for personal gain and malicious harm, the Justice Department said. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

The former VA employee involved is scheduled for sentencing in August.

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