> And this is worth $250 billion in compensatory and punitive damages?
If you ever heard about RIAA cases where defendants were punished $250,000 per downloaded song, or $450,000,000 in total "damages", something like this should not surprise you.
The RIAA has an actual law (however absurd that law may be) on their side to award damages.[1] HIPAA has no such law, they can fine health companies for failing to maintain privacy standards, but there is no right to individual tort.
It's worth noting that the largest HIPAA fine to date was $3mm -- .001% of the sought-after amount.
If you ever heard about RIAA cases where defendants were punished $250,000 per downloaded song, or $450,000,000 in total "damages", something like this should not surprise you.