Boston Doctor Files CFAA Lawsuit Against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey

BROOKLINE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD, a multiple sclerosis neurologist practicing in the Boston area who is called Dr. Bharani by patients and colleagues, filed a lawsuit in Federal court alleging massive violations of the Computer Fraud And Abuse Act (18 USC §1030) and the Stored Communications Act (18 USC § 2701) by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, certain members of her staff and two employees of the state Board of Registration in Medicine.

The complaint states AG Maura Healey sent two investigators to Dr. Bharani's home to immediately confiscate the "complete page-by-page medical records (written and electronic)" of 16 patients under the pretext that Dr. Bharani had committed Medicaid Fraud. The complaint alleges AG Maura Healey, who calls herself the People's Lawyer, violated the law on behalf of her client, James Paikos, whom she is representing in a private civil case.

Dr. Bharani refused to hand over his patients' records and his patients approved of their doctor's refusal to hand over their personal medical records.

The complaint also states that Dr. Bharani has been seeing his patients for free for the past five years and the Government has not paid him one dime throughout that time.

Dr. Bharani said, "I had to file this lawsuit because the level of lawlessness within AG Maura Healey's office should not be tolerated in a free country. Her actions have harmed me immensely. It is unheard of for an Attorney General, the highest elected law official, to suddenly send her people to a doctor's home and scare his elderly parents, knowing he has not billed the Government or participated in Medicaid fraud."

Dr. Bharani's complaint alleges violations of access to the confidential prescription data of all his patients, stored on protected government computers, and states "Defendants' chilling violation and conscious disregard for the explicitly-protected data privacy rights of the people is likely to be routine and affects anyone who had a prescription filled in Massachusetts, including residents of other States."

The complaint seeks injunctive relief including referring AG Healey for criminal prosecution, as well as punitive damages. It may be downloaded at www.maurabrokecfaa.com  

Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD
Brookline MA
(617) 5666047  [email protected]

SOURCE Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD