Coastal Orthopedics Pays $1.4 Million to Resolve Data Breach Lawsuit
HIPAA-covered entity Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine of Southwest Florida (COSM) decided to resolve a class action litigation arising from a cyberattack and data breach in June 2023 that impacted 203,427 people. From June 6, 2023 to June 11, 2023, hackers got access to its system and extracted files that contain patient names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, diagnoses, treatment data, financial account details, medical insurance data, and other types of sensitive information.
COSM is facing multiple lawsuits associated with the data breach. Plaintiffs Karl Ford and Barbara Balbo filed lawsuits (one each) in the Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit in and for Manatee County, Florida. Plaintiff Vikki Comarsh-Whiteone filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. Plaintiff Comarsh-White filed a notice of voluntary dismissal. At the same time, the other two were combined into one lawsuit in October 2024, In Re: Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine of Southwest Florida Data Breach Lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed negligence for not implementing acceptable security steps to avoid unauthorized network access. COSM rejected and denied any liability or wrongdoing, but consented to resolve the lawsuit to keep clear of the uncertainty, pitfalls, and cost of continuing lawsuits. Specified in the settlement terms is the COSM agreement to spend $1,403,646.30 for paying claims filed by the plaintiffs and class members, legal expenses, charges, class representative awards, and lawyers’ fees. The lawyers’ payment is $467,882.10, or about 33.33% of the settlement fund, and up to $25,000 will be paid for costs and expenditures. A $2,500 service award payment will be given to each of the three class representatives.
Class members can file a claim for a refund up to a maximum of $10,000 per class member for documented monetary losses that can be linked to the data breach. Class members will also get single-bureau credit monitoring services for two years, including a $1 million fraud and identity theft insurance coverage. Whether a class member files a claim for reimbursement of losses or not, he is eligible to get a pro rata cash payment that will be given after all paid claims are deducted from the settlement fund. There are two groups of class members regarding receiving cash payments. Group 1 consists of people who had their Social Security numbers exposed. Group 2 consists of all other class members. The cash payments of Group 1 members will be triple the amount that Group 2 members receive.
All parties have agreed to the settlement terms, and the court has given it preliminary approval. The last day to object to the settlement is July 14, 2025; while the last day to exclude from the settlement is August 13, 2025. Claims can be filed on or before August 13, 2025. The schedule of the final fairness hearing is July 28, 2025.
Mariya Weeks of Millberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, and Katherine Earle Yanes of Kynes, Markman & Feldman P.A. are the legal representatives of the plaintiffs and the class. Read about the settlement details on coastalorthopedicssettlement.com.