Google, University of Chicago Sued Over Patient Data

A former patient of the University of Chicago Medical Center is suing the institution amid claims it violated patients' privacy rights. The class-action lawsuit claims records containing identifiable patient information were shared as a result of a partnership between Google and the University of Chicago. All three institutions are named as defendants in the suit, which was filed Wednesday in the Northern District of Illinois by Matt Dinerstein, who received treatment at the medical center during two hospital stays in 2015. The collaboration between Google and the University of Chicago was launched in 2017 to study electronic health records and develop new machine-learning techniques to create predictive models that could prevent unplanned hospital readmissions, avoid costly complications and save lives, according to a 2017 news release from the university. The tech giant has similar partnerships with Stanford University and the University of California-San Francisco.