Kaiser Said to Drop Ball on Parent Records

(CN) - A couple says Kaiser disclosed confidential birth records to an adopted child who was searching for his birth parents.

The plaintiffs, using pseudonyms, said James Ingraffia showed up on their doorstep, claiming to be their son. The birth parents say this clued them in that Kaiser had given their birth son confidential, sealed birth records.

Ingraffia's adopted parents Salvator and Margaret helped James find his birth parents, the couple says in their complaint in Alameda Superior Court.

"Plaintiffs suffered damages in the form of fear, apprehension, shock to the nervous system and continuous and repeated episodes of severe emotional distress when they learned that although they had taken the necessary legal steps to keep information about James Ingraffia's birth confidential and private, Defendant Kaiser had broken the seal on such records and disclosed them," the complaint says.

The plaintiffs sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the Ingraffias, and unknown defendants, seeking exemplary damages against Kaiser of up to $3,000.

The couple is represented by Patricia Turnage.

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