HHS OCR breach portal (HIPAA breaches affecting 500 or more individuals) Primary notice
Posted on the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal with a submission date of Feb. 3, 2017.
- Organization as reported
- Walgreen Co., IL
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Unauthorized Access/Disclosure
- Location of information as reported
- Paper/Films
- Submission date
- Feb. 3, 2017
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 14279, row:5418)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
The covered entity (CE), Walgreens, sent an improperly formatted survey letter to individuals so that protected health information (PHI) was visible in the addressee window of the envelope. The visible PHI included recent prescription histories, clinical, and demographic data affecting 4,500 individuals in 49 states. Following the breach, the CE conducted an investigation to determine the root cause of the breach, revised quality control steps for mailings that contain PHI, and retrained department staff on its revised procedures. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media and posted a substitute notice on the home page of its website. OCR obtained documented assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted above.