After the million dollar fine that Rite Aid paid and the 2.25 million dollar fine CVS paid for failing to shred patient documents I thought I had seen the last pharmacy make that mistake.  The fines that HIPAA imposes make a mistake with patient records very costly. But Cornell Pharmacy in Denver has been caught with a dumpster full of patient records. The reporter estimated that around 5,000 patients were affected.

After being caught the pharmacy said it wasn’t their fault because a lock had been cut off the dumpster. But there story seems to ring a little hollow. The dumpster was from a waste company so it would have ended up in a landfill and not shredded. Also, the waste company said there locks were never intended to keep anything secure — just keep people from adding in their trash.

For all the other pharmacies that don’t have a million dollars to spend on HIPAA fines here are some good Denver Shredding Companies.