The hospital that treated Ricky Cobb II accidentally sent some of his medical information to the Minneapolis Police Department after he was shot and killed by a state trooper.
Hospital accidentally sends medical information for Ricky Cobb II to Minneapolis police
The mistake by North Memorial Health was detailed in a letter Tuesday to Cobb's mother.
August 23, 2023 at 2:52AM
The mistake by North Memorial Health was detailed in a letter Tuesday to Cobb's mother, signed by the hospital's Information Security Director Mike Sweet.
The information included a description of the scene when the ambulance crew arrived, Cobb's injuries, medical services provided to him, and graphical heart rate information, Sweet wrote.
Bakari Sellers, one of the attorneys for Cobb's family, said he appreciates the transparency but is upset over the error, calling it "another wound the Cobb family will have to heal."
"This is not a small or mundane error, and the hospital system's response is insufficient," Sellers said. "Again we're still grieving and will let the process play out."
Cobb, a 33-year-old Black man, was shot and killed early July 31 during a traffic stop along Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. Troopers were attempting to remove Cobb from a vehicle after learning that he was wanted for questioning in an alleged violation of a standing domestic order for protection.
When a North Memorial Health ambulance crew arrived, employees created a "run sheet" describing the services they provided to Cobb after he was shot, the letter states. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the death, later requested that information.
Around the same time, the Minneapolis Police Department requested records of a different patient, Sweet said. Instead of sending police that patient's records, Cobb's information was sent by mistake.
The hospital was made aware of the error by the employee with Minneapolis Police Department who received the records, Sweet wrote. The hospital did not say when the information was released.
The employee said he would not disclose the information and would destroy the accidentally sent records, Sweet added.
"We do not believe the information that we disclosed in error has been used for any purpose," Sweet wrote in the letter obtained by the Star Tribune.
Sweet apologized in the letter, saying "we are very sorry for your loss and for the circumstances that require us to send you this letter at this already difficult time for you and your family."
Asked for comment, North Memorial Health provided a statement saying it is "committed to our obligation to inform those involved" in any data breach.
"We take this responsibility and the trust given to us by our patients and their families very seriously," it read.
The hospital added it has "reviewed internal practices and procedures to minimize any opportunity for future mistakes."
Minneapolis police, who were not involved in the Cobb case, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
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