California AG Agrees $5 Million Settlement with Quest Diagnostics Over Improper Disposal of Waste; Patient Data
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced that a $5 million settlement has been agreed with Quest Diagnostics to resolve allegations it illegally dumped hazardous and medical waste and disposed of the unredacted personal health information of patients in regular trash dumpsters. An investigation was conducted into the business practices of Quest Diagnostics that involved 30 inspections at four Quest Diagnostic Laboratories and several of its patient service centers in the state to determine if Quest Diagnostics was complying with California’s Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, Unfair Competition Law, and civil laws that prohibit the disclosure of the personal health information of Californians.
The inspections included reviews of the contents of compactors and dumpsters at Quest facilities which found hundreds of containers of chemicals including reagents and bleach, and electronic waste and batteries. The dumpsters also contained medical waste such as specimen containers that included blood and urine, hazardous waste such as flammable liquids, solvents, and batteries, and unredacted medical information.
Quest Diagnostics was notified about the findings of the inspections and hired an independent environmental auditor to review its waste disposal policies and procedures, which have now been modified. Staff training on the updated policies and procedures has been provided across its four laboratories and more than 600 patient service centers in the state to ensure full compliance with California laws.
“Quest takes patient privacy and the protection of the environment very seriously and has made significant investments to implement industry best practices to ensure hazardous waste, medical waste, and confidential patient information are disposed of properly,” said a spokesperson for Quest Diagnostics. “These include investing in technologies for treatment of biological waste, secured destruction of patient information, programs to maximize recycling efforts and minimize waste-to-landfill disposal, waste-to-energy recovery of non-recyclable wastes, and enhanced waste audit and inspection measures to ensure continued compliance with applicable laws.”
The settlement includes $3,999,500 in civil monetary penalties, $700,000 in costs, and $300,000 for a Supplemental Environmental Project to support environmental training and enforcement in California, and injunctive relief requiring Quest Diagnostics to maintain an environmental compliance program and hire a third-party waste auditor to conduct annual audits and report on its status. The civil monetary penalties will be divided between 10 California counties. The investigation was a collaboration between the office of Attorney General Bonta and the District Attorney’s offices in Alameda, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Ventura, and Yolo counties.
“Quest Diagnostics’ illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste and patient information put families and communities at risk and endangered our environment,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Let today’s settlement send a clear message that my office will hold corporations, including medical services providers, accountable for violations of state environmental and privacy laws. I appreciate the partnership of the district attorneys’ offices across our state that led to this critical settlement.”
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Foundation Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals were also investigated over their waste disposal practices and were similarly found to have improperly disposed of hazardous waste, medical waste, and patient information, in violation of state laws. The case was settled for $49 million last September.
