American Esoteric Laboratories

A data breach may have resulted in the exposure of the personal and protected health information of patients of a medical lab chain with multiple Alabama locations.American Esoteric Laboratories announced Friday that it had become aware of a "data security incident" that could impact patients' data security.An AEL employees' company-issued laptop was stolen on Oct. 15, the company said in a press release. The laptop may have contained sensitive information about "some AEI patients and their payment guarantors," according to the company.Upon learning of the incident, AEL disabled the affected employee's email account, disabled the stolen laptop's access to its computer network, and reported the laptop theft to the local police," the press release stated.An internal AEL investigation found that a wide range of personal information about patients may have been stored on the laptop, including "names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance information, and/or medical treatment information."The company has also set up a hotline people can call with any questions or concerns about the breach. The phone number is 888-285-9795.AEL, which is based in Tennessee, has three locations in Alabama, one each in Birmingham, Montgomery and Prattville.