A class action lawsuit has been filed against St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) of Orange, Calif., in light of a year-long patient data glitch.

Filed by Deanna DeBaeke and Loba Moon April 2, the lawsuit stated that the defendants began notifying certain patients that some private, personal and medical information was mistakenly made accessible on the internet from February 2011 to February 2012.

“In total, approximately 31,800 California patients of SJHS acute care hospitals were notified that their personal and medical information was made publicly accessible on the internet as a result of the mistake,” the lawsuit stated.

The information was set forth in unencrypted electronic reports that were saved in an SJHS internal database between February and August 2011.

Visible information included, but was not limited to, patient name, blood pressure and lab results. Addresses, social security numbers and financial information were not included. The plaintiffs are seeking $1,000 per patient totaling $31.8 million for all patients involved.