"Thousands" Of Medical Records Discovered In Recycling Bin

Anyone who peered inside the mixed paper bin at the Dupont Recycling Center this afternoon got an eyeful.  Files, in plain sight, which authorities say contained sensitive medical and identity information.

"Upon finding those, they discovered it wasn't a small amount. it was a large amount that we had to notify hutcheson medical center and one other medical facility," says Investigator William Puckett with the Chattanooga Police Department.

Our cameras were rolling as police took the files out of the bin and put them into police cars.

They thought one car would hold them all...but Investigator Puckett says there were more records than they thought.

"I would say, my guesstimation, is possibly a couple thousand," Puckett told us.

And right now, authorities don't know how those thousands of files got there. But they do believe that some of the records came from Hutcheson and a plastic surgery office in the area.

The supervisor of the recycling center says the information inside those files included graphic photos, and social security numbers.

It turns out having that sensitive information out in the open is not a violation of Tennessee law, according to Chattanooga Police.

But they do say it's a HIPAA violation.

We checked for ourselves. We found out on the HIPAA website, that protected health information must be "properly disposed" of.

The recommended proper disposal is by burning, shredding, pulping or pulverizing -- anything that would make the information unreadable.

And as you can see today, that wasn't done to these records. Investigator Puckett says it's something he's not seen before. "This is the first time I think I've ever heard of one," he says, adding "and I've been with Chattanooga Police for 7 years."

Chattanooga Police were out this afternoon as a preventative measure--to prevent identity theft. And right now, police think they got to the information just in time.

No word yet on whether medical authorities will investigate, but officials at Hutcheson Medical Center tell us they want to know how the records got there.