Inquiry finds no leaks of Florida HIV e-mail

Health department officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have concluded that a list of 6,500 HIV-positive county residents accidentally e-mailed to more than 800 department employees was not circulated outside the health department, the Palm Beach Post reports. A lengthy investigation showed no signs that the e-mail or the attached list left the department, according to health department director Jean Malecki. The list was inadvertently attached to an e-mail on HIV statistics sent by health department statistician John "Jack" Nolan to about 800 department employees on February 17. Nolan realized the error after just a few minutes, and department technicians deleted the e-mail within an hour. A total of 16 department employees read the e-mail before it was withdrawn, and two printed out the list but said they shredded it once they realized it contained the names of every HIV-positive county resident. Malecki says there is no evidence that the e-mail was saved, forwarded, or distributed outside the department's e-mail system.