NEWS & INFORMATION - Article Detail

Thousands of patients of a Jersey City doctor are vulnerable to identity theft after police say their medical records were stolen from a storage shed at the doctor's office earlier this week.

Dr. Nisar A. Quraishi, an internist with an office at 1 Chopin Court, told police Tuesday night that he was contacted by a resident of the neighborhood and notified that his storage shed door was open, according to a police report.
 

Quraishi arrived at his office at 5 p.m. Tuesday and found that both latches on the shed door had been cut with an unknown cutting tool. When he entered the shed, Quraishi immediately noticed all of the medical records of patients he had treated between 1982 and 2009 -- and may still be treating -- had been stolen, the report stated.

Quraishi told police the majority of the records contained personal information, including social security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and medical histories of each patient, according to the report.

The doctor said he had "no idea" who broke into the shed and stated that he had not been to the property since Aug. 10, at which point the shed was still secure, the report said.

Quraishi told police he was unable to immediately provide any of the names of the patients whose records were stolen from the shed, the report stated.

Police said there were no security cameras or witnesses in the area or at the scene.
 

Quraishi is listed as a specialist in internal medicine and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Trinity Center in New York.

Quraishi could not be reached for comment at his Jersey City office and did not return calls to his New York office.