Judge dismisses lawsuit filed over stolen University billing records

A civil lawsuit filed against a company that stores University of Utah Hospital and Clinics records that ended up being stolen has been dismissed.

Third District Judge Denise Lindberg recently dismissed the personal injury civil lawsuit filed by Thelma Keachie because "the court finds that plaintiff has not stated a claim for relief."

Keachie sued Perpetual Storage Inc., which was to keep track of billing records for more than 1.5 million hospital patients. Keachie also sued some storage company employees.

A courier for the company collected tapes for a master billing record for the hospital on June 1 and was supposed to take them to a secure facility in Little Cottonwood Canyon. However, the courier left the tapes in his car overnight and they were stolen.

The records have since been recovered and two men not associated with the storage company, Shadd Dean Hartman and Thomas Howard Anderson, have been charged with theft.

— Linda Thomson