Hattiesburg Eye Clinic Data Breach Potentially Impacts PHI

Hattiesburg Eye Clinic, a privately operated ophthalmology and optometry practice based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, disclosed a data breach that affected 6,137 individuals in the United States.

The clinic provides a wide range of eye care services across South Mississippi, including routine and comprehensive eye examinations, diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease, and surgical procedures such as cataract surgery, LASIK vision correction and eyelid procedures.

The breach was disclosed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Oct. 5, 2026. The Department of Health and Human Services oversees breach notifications involving protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

A ransomware group known as The Gentlemen claimed responsibility for the attack on the clinic. On Sept. 14, 2026, the group posted on a dark web site hosted on the Tor network, claiming to have obtained data belonging to the organization.

The breach involved protected health information. At this time, the information types compromised remain undisclosed publicly but may have included patient names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, diagnoses, treatment histories, health insurance identification numbers, billing records and prescription information.

Hattiesburg Eye Clinic's response to the breach

Patients of Hattiesburg Eye Clinic who have questions about the breach or who want to find out whether their information was involved can contact the clinic directly. The clinic's main office is located at 100 West Hospital Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39402, and can be reached by phone at 601-268-5910. The office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.