Local Man Sentenced For Deleting Medical Records

SAN DIEGO -- A disgruntled worker is paying the price for deleting medical records, 10News reported.

Jon Paul Oson, of Chula Vista, was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison for hacking into the database of a local health clinic.

It was the very person trusted to protect the Council of Community Health Clinics who went on a hacking rampage.

"The doctors did not have available … knowledge of the other drugs the patients needed and there were treatment complications in the records in the computer that weren't available to the doctors," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitch Dembin.

Oson worked as the clinic's technical services manager. He resigned after an unfavorable job evaluation.

That is when investigators said Oson started deleting patient files.

"About a week before the most devastating of his attacks, he broke into the system and deleted the program that would have caused the data to be backed up," said Dembin.

Dembin said Oson's actions affected thousands of patients' records. That is because the organization provides various services to 17 regional health clinics in Southern California, including the North County Health Services Clinic in San Marcos.

Oson's crime caught up with him, and he has been sentenced to more than 5 years in prison.

"This case, as best as we can tell, was one of the longest, if not the longest, sentence imposed involving straight computer hacking," said Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum.

Dixon said the case was a perfect example of why patients should keep track of their medical records.

"In this electronic world, sometimes paper is the best backup, and it's really great to have a copy of your records in paper form," said Dixon.

Dixon said requesting your patient records every year is ideal.

Oson has also been ordered to pay more than $409,000 in restitution.