Mwasi v. Allison
- James Donato
- 3:22-cv-00973
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Mwasi v. Allison, Judge Donato dismissed K. Mwasi’s complaint because HIPAA provides no private right to sue.
K. Mwasi, a state prisoner who filed the action, and the defendants, including Kathleen Allison; the case was closed after dismissal.
What happened
In Mwasi v. Allison, K. Mwasi, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, sued under a federal civil-rights law after alleging that prison litigation coordinators provided his medical records to the California Attorney General’s Office.
The court explained that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not create a private right to sue. It concluded that Mwasi could not obtain relief under that law and that changing the complaint would not fix the problem.
Judge Donato dismissed the action without leave to amend for failure to state a claim and requested that the Clerk close the case.
The detailed version
- Mwasi v. Allison · No. 3:22-cv-00973
- James Donato
- Mar. 22, 2022
Background
K. Mwasi, identified as a state prisoner, filed a civil-rights complaint without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court had allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee. Mwasi alleged that litigation coordinators at several California prisons provided his medical records to attorneys in the California Attorney General’s Office, which he claimed violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Court’s Analysis
The court screened the complaint under the federal prisoner-screening statute, which requires dismissal of claims that are frivolous, malicious, fail to state a claim, or seek money from an immune defendant. It also applied the requirement that a § 1983 complaint allege a violation of a federal right by someone acting under state law.
The court held that HIPAA provides no private right of action, meaning that a private individual cannot use HIPAA itself to bring a lawsuit for the alleged disclosure. The court therefore concluded that Mwasi was not entitled to relief. It also determined that no amendment could cure the complaint’s deficiency.
Disposition
Judge James Donato ordered that the action be dismissed without leave to amend for failure to state a claim. The court also requested that the Clerk close the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.