By DAN MARGOLIES

A medical group that provides anesthesia services to Kansas City metro hospitals has notified 3,472 patients that some of their personal information may have been compromised after surgery schedules were stolen from an employee’s car.

Anesthesia Associates of Kansas City posted a notice on its website that the surgery schedules may have included some patients’ names, dates of birth, types and dates of surgery, and the name of the patients’ surgeons.

Patient addresses, Social Security numbers, insurance and financial information were not included on the schedules.

“We had an employee that was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing,” said Mark Meisel, Anesthesia Associates’ CEO.

Meisel said the employee, a nurse anesthetist, put his backpack containing surgery schedules in a visible part of his car – a violation of the medical practice’s data security protocols.

“Unfortunately, you can tell people what the rules are, but this person didn’t follow the rules,” Meisel said.

Meisel declined to say whether the employee had been fired or disciplined.

The theft, which occurred in December, did not affect all of Anesthesia Associates’ patients. But Meisel said that out of “an abundance of caution,” it notified patients who underwent surgery between April 4, 2018, and Dec. 4, 2018.

The theft was reported to police but the backpack and its contents have not been recovered.

Anesthesia Associates, which is based in Overland Park, Kansas, provides anesthesiology services to Children’s Mercy Hospital as well as hospitals owned by HCA Midwest Health, including Belton Regional Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park Regional Medical Center and Research Medical Center.

With about 240 anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, pain management specialists and other clinicians, it’s the largest anesthesiology practice in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The data breach is one of several that have occurred in the last few months at local and regional health care practices. Last month, Sunflower Health Plan, one of the managed care organizations that insures Kansas Medicaid patients, reported a data breach affecting 1,625 plan members after it sent ID cards and welcome packs to the wrong recipients.

Also last month, Valley Hope Association, which operates drug and alcohol rehab clinics in Kansas, Missouri and five other states, said that an unauthorized individual accessed the email account of an employee and may have viewed patients’ health information. That breach affected 70,799 individuals.

Dan Margolies is a senior reporter in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), along with the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office, and the Chanute Police Department, have identified the remains of a woman who was found last August in a field near Ford Rd. and 50^th Rd. in Neosho County.

According to a media release from the KBI, the remains are those of Marissa M. Craft, who went missing from her home in Chanute, and was 39-years-old at the time she disappeared. Craft was last seen Dec. 15, 2017 leaving her mobile home with three men in a white, Dodge pickup truck.

The investigation into Craft’s death continues. Anyone with information about the circumstances of her disappearance or death is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME, or the Neosho County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 244-3888. Callers may remain anonymous.

 

 

PHARR, Texas (AP) — Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted nearly $13 million worth of methamphetamine inside a truck carrying frozen strawberries that crossed into the U.S. from
Mexico.

#CBP officers in TX seized more than 900lbs of meth worth $12 MILLION in a commercial shipment of frozen strawberries over the weekend: https://t.co/oDvMn7Z2VF pic.twitter.com/JxCQ7gm9xo

— CBP (@CBP) February 20, 2019

The agency on Tuesday said officers working at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility in Texas used imaging equipment and dogs to inspect the truck on Feb. 16.

Officers discovered 350 packages concealed within the trailer and seized 906 pounds of meth.

The 42-year-old Mexican citizen who was driving the truck was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security agents.

Port director David Gonzalez called it an “outstanding interception.”

By Grant Heiman
KU Statehouse News Service

TOPEKA — A recent bill requiring a $500 annual stipend for teachers to buy supplies was introduced to the House Education Committee during a hearing on Monday.

“Why do teachers have to spend their own money to educate our children?” Rep. Cheryl Helmer (R-Mulvane) said during her introduction of the bill. “Teachers struggle on their salary. We are losing teachers every day because of behavior, societal problems, student debt and better job opportunities. Let’s take this burden away from them.”

House Bill 2233 would affect about 34,700 teachers and was met with strong opposition during the committee meeting. The estimated annual cost of the bill is around $17,350,000 and would come from the 286 school districts across the state instead of the state’s general fund.

On average teachers in the state of Kansas make $50,531 and rank 42nd in teacher salary, according to the 2017 rankings and estimates report from NEA.

“In a small school, where I retired from, it would cost us pretty close to around $40,000,” Jerry Henn, former Wellsville superintendent, said on behalf of the Kansas School Superintendents Association.

The bill stated that stipend money must only be spent on educational materials that are “intended to be fully used within the current school year,” This excludes the purchasing of products intended for multiple-year use as well as any food products.

“This bill provides little support for the innovative and creative teacher,” said Mark Desetti, Director of Legislative and Political Advocacy for the Kansas National Education Association, in his testimony.

The bill also met opposition from the Kansas Association of School Boards and other education-focused entities.

“We would like to file this bill under the category of best intentions,” Desetti said. “Unfortunately, we believe the idea behind this bill needs to be explored more deliberately.”

The committee will vote on HB 2233 on Thursday, Feb. 21.

Grant Heiman is a University of Kansas junior from Wichita majoring in journalism.

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa woman whose infant son’s lifeless body was found in a baby swing has been imprisoned for life without possibility of parole.

Court records say 22-year-old Cheyanne Harris was sentenced Tuesday in New Hampton to the state-mandated penalty, and her request for a new trial was denied. A jury found her guilty Feb. 6 of first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death.

The charges stem from the death of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, whose body was found Aug. 30, 2017, in a maggot-infested diaper at an apartment in Alta Vista. The swing was in a sweltering bedroom.

An autopsy shows he died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection.

The baby’s father, Zachary Koehn, also has been sentenced to life in prison

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former treasurer has been sentenced for stealing from the Jewish Federation of Lincoln.

Federal prosecutors say Jennifer Rosenblatt, of Overland Park, Kansas, was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln to six months in a residential re-entry center and six months of home confinement. She also was ordered to pay nearly $107,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say Rosenblatt, formerly of Lincoln, was treasurer of the federation from 2009 through June 2016. They say Rosenblatt made payments to her personal credit card accounts from funds in the federation’s bank accounts.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Washburn professor says in a lawsuit that the university retaliated against her after she filed a sex discrimination complaint.

Leslie Reynard, who teaches in the communication department, said in her lawsuit the retaliation began after she told her department chair in April 2018 that she intended to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Reynard said the university tried to place her on a performance improvement plan in September. She refused because she said the plan was used to find small mistakes that would allow the school to fire her.

In November, she filed a claim of retaliation. The lawsuit seeks back pay and damages.

School spokesman Patrick Early said Tuesday the university’s counsel wasn’t aware of the lawsuit and wouldn’t comment.