On Wednesday in the Southern District of Florida, Advanced Interventional Pain & Diagnostics of Western Arkansas (AIPD) filed a class-action lawsuit against Modernizing Medicine, Inc. (MMI) for supposedly sending a fax to the pain clinic without its permission in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The plaintiff seeks certification of a class of all people and entities who received a fax from the defendant that promotes its services, without first giving their consent.
The ten-page complaint explains that AIPD is an interventional pain medicine clinic located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The defendant is reportedly in the business of providing electronic health records systems to medical clinics. MMI is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, according to the filing.
The complaint first explains that the plaintiff clinic relies on facsimiles to operate and serve patients, as do many healthcare providers. AIPD also estimates that it receives “thousands of unwanted and unsolicited faxes each year.” The complaint then specifies the harm caused by these “junk faxes,” which includes disrupting the recipient’s peace, draining paper, ink, and toner, and interfering with legitimate business.
In approximately June 2018, MMI faxed the plaintiff an unsolicited advertisement touting the virtues of its patient records product. The facsimile also included a cover page, the complaint states. The plaintiff contends that MMI neither had express invitation nor permission to send advertisements to its fax machine.
For the alleged TCPA violation, the plaintiff seeks class certification, treble damages, injunctive relief, and an award of the class’s attorneys’ fees and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Ku & Mussman, P.A. and Carney Bates & Pulliam, PLLC.
