2nd suit filed over stolen U. Hospital records

A second lawsuit has been filed against a storage company after the billing records of more than 1.5 million hospital patients were stolen from University of Utah Hospital and Clinics earlier this month.

Thelma Keachie, one of the affected patients, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Perpetual Storage Inc. and several company employees Monday in 3rd District Court.

A Perpetual Storage courier picked up tapes containing a master billing record for the hospital on June 1 and left the tapes in his car instead of taking them to a secure facility in Little Cottonwood Canyon, police and hospital officials have said. The tapes were stolen from the car sometime during the night and have not been recovered.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, Keachie claims the company and the courier acted negligently in transporting the tapes and in failing to "hire, supervise and train employees in the secure transportation and storage" of sensitive materials. Keachie is suing for no less than $11 million in damages.

A similar class-action suit was filed by U. patient Patrick Beamish on June 13.