There's been a security breach at the state Department of Health Services. Letters addressed to people enrolled in a state program assisting HIV positive individuals were put into the wrong envelopes.
Department Director Sandra Shewry says 54 letters were sent to participants in the program -- but some got other patients' letters in error. Shewry apologized for the incident, which she says was a human error:
Shewry : It appears it was a new employee and we have re-assigned that person. We have now long-standing trained employees doing this work.
Shewry says they're sending out new letters via certified mail, and have notified the CHP of the breach. She says the letters contained names and addresses, and facts about the person's Medicare eligibility, but not social security numbers. Shewry says they're also re-evaluating their mailing procedures at the department.
