Last year, there was Farrah Fawcett, then Britney Spears at the beginning of this year and now, the latest public person who saw her medical privacy broken is California first lady Maria Shriver. The list could continue with other 29 high profile patients who had their confidential records breached at UCLA Medical Center.

“We are very concerned by what appears to be a pattern of repeated violations. It’s not a question of will we take action. It’s determining what level of action to take,” said Kim Belshe, secretary of the state’s Health and Human Services Agency quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Dr. David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Hospital System apologized personally for the breaches on Sunday, naming the employee who did this as “rogue.” The hospital fired her in May 2007 after learning of the breaches.

“This person should not have been looking at those records,” he said.

Unfortunately, this kind of behavior exposes UCLA to state sanctions and amount to a major embarrassment for one of the nation’s preeminent medical centers. The privacy of medical records is protected under the state and federal laws and the person who does such things risks her freedom or to pay fines or both.

“A breach of any patient’s medical records is outrageous. Patients’ medical records should be private – period. No one should have to worry that an unauthorized person is reviewing their private medical records,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in statement after he and his wife were notified about the violations on Friday. He also added that he had called on his administration to take action after the first incident – Spears’ case – was reported last month.

Following snooping in pop star Spears’ records during her stay in UCLA’s neuropsychiatric unit earlier this year, 13 workers were fired and 12 others disciplined after an investigation of state regulators.

Information about Fawcett’s recurring cancer appeared in the National Enquirer, but Feinberg said the hospital found no evidence any other confidential medical information was shared inappropriately.

Shriver, a former contributing anchor to Dateline NBC and niece of President Kennedy, could not be reached for comments Sunday.