Pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. has agreed to pay a $1 million fine and take corrective action to settle federal charges that it violated the HIPAA privacy rule and the FTC Act when some of its stores improperly disposed of prescription information in dumpsters.

The Department of Health and Human Services levied the fine and required corrective action to settle the HIPAA-related charges. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission required another set of corrective actions, including frequent security audits.

The settlement comes after a four-year investigation that originated when media reports revealed that stores in various cities disposed of prescriptions and labeled pill bottles in open dumpsters that were accessible to the public.

Sure this is an example in the US that fell foul of the HIPAA regulations, but the law also applies here in the UK, managemnt old paper documents such as prescriptions is serious business and you need to know that you staff are properly trained and your data is destroyed or managed by experts such as Secure Data Recycling