Penn Medicine Loses Bid to Move Privacy Suit to Federal Court

The University of Pennsylvania Health System can’t invoke federal jurisdiction over a lawsuit filed in state court alleging it illegally shared personal health information from its online patient portal with Facebook, a federal appellate court ruled.

Johnathon Mohr alleged in a proposed class action filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County that Penn Medicine installed the Facebook pixel on its patient portal, allowing the social media giant to collect sensitive information about patients identities, medical conditions, and online activities in violation of Pennsylvania privacy law.

Penn Medicine wasn’t “acting under” the federal government in operating the ...