The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can go forward with enforcement action against LabMD in the wake of a breach that exposed patient information on a public file sharing network after the Eleventh Circuit court dismissed the lab's challenge to the government agency's authority.
The agency had determined that LabMD had violated the FTC Act for failing to protect the information.
LabMD took issue with the findings and asked a lower court to dismiss the FTC action, claiming the agency didn't have the standing to mete out enforcement for private health data. The court refused and LabMD appealed.
In its dismissal, according to the National Law Review, the Eleventh Circuit said once the FTC completes its administrative trial and makes a final decision then the lab can ask a federal court to rule on whether the FTC exceeded its authority.
