Thousands of MA medical records stolen in car break-in

Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, a firm that offers surgical and cosmetic skin care from offices in Marlborough, Westford, Concord and Wolfeboro, N.H., lost more than 2,000 patient records last month when a computer flash drive was stolen from an employee's car. The data stolen included digital photographs of surgical skin cancer procedures, operation reports and copies of consultation letters to referring doctors. The flash drive did not include Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, health insurance numbers, home phone numbers or home addresses. "We are all committed to delivering the highest quality care to our patients and we deeply regret what has happened," COO Glenn Smith wrote. "Our employee was a victim of a crime and this is the very unfortunate outcome of that crime." Company spokeswoman Ashley McCown said the information was contained in a flash drive that was stolen from an employee's locked car outside his or her home in Lowell. Through McCown, Smith declined to say whether the flash drive had been encrypted to prevent access to the data.