The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Connecticut has announced the creation of a Connecticut Cyber Task Force (“CCTF”) in partnership with the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, Homeland Security, IRS, Connecticut State Police, and 11 local police departments from throughout Connecticut as well as other federal authorities. The CCTF’s initial focus will be twofold: (1) to “target criminal activity on the dark web, notably the illicit acquisition and distribution of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs that are the cause of tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually” and (2) “to identify and disrupt criminal organizations that use computer intrusions to defraud companies of their money and information.”
Continue Reading Connecticut Cyber Task Force Announced

In the wake of the national opioid overdose crisis, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has provided clarification on when covered entities are permitted to disclose patient information during opioid emergencies.

The OCR commented that some health care providers believe that they must have the patient’s consent in order to share information with family members about a patient’s opioid overdose.

The OCR has clarified that health care providers may share limited protected health information in natural disasters and during drug overdoses, if sharing the information could prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a patient’s health or safety.
Continue Reading OCR Clarifies Privacy Rule for Sharing PHI on Opioid Overdoses