More UCLA Medical Center Staffers Involved In Medical Records Scandal

By Alice Carver
14:43, August 5th 2008
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More UCLA Medical Center Staffers Involved In Medical Records Scandal

127 workers at a Los Angeles hospital read without permission celebrity medical records between January 2004 and June 2006. The report released Monday by the California Department of Public Health showed that that three UCLA Medical Center staffers continued to peek at the confidential records of a “well-known individual” after an April crackdown on record-peeking, the Associated Press noted.

Earlier this year, Lawanda Jackson, a former employee of the UCLA medical Center was blamed for allegedly reading without permission the medical files of the governor’s wife and 60 others, which were supposed to be confidential. The records belonged to Farrah Fawcett, Maria Shriver (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wife) and some 60 other celebrities. Fawcett’s attorneys were afraid that the information could be published in tabloids and they emphasized the fact that the employee had no authorization to look into the files. She received “written counseling” for the privacy breach. The former employee faces federal criminal charges. Information about Fawcett’s recurring cancer appeared in the National Enquirer, but hospital officials said they found no evidence that ant other confidential information was shared inappropriately. The “Charlie’s Angels” star was declared completely cured of cancer in February 2007, but the disease reappeared in a few months. It was in May that she complained to a UCLA doctor about her privacy breach.

Ms. Jackson worked for the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles since 2006 until May 2007, as a low-level administrative specialist. She declared for the Los Angeles Times that she had looked up into the records just because she was “being nosy” and she also denied leaking information.

In September 2005, when Britney Spears’ first son, Sean Preston, was born several employees were caught peeking in the singer’s files and were fired. The hospital staff read without permission medical record of the troubled pop star, who was hospitalized at the hospital neuropsychiatric unit in January after facing a crisis when Kevin Federline’s representatives tried to retrieve their two children. After the incident, Spears lost the custody of the children.

State and hospital officials said employees attempted to access personal medical information of other patients as well.

Some UCLA employees read without permission medical records of the pop star Britney Spears, who was hospitalized at the hospital’s neuropsychiatric unit in January.

State regulators blame the hospital for not taking adequate steps to maintain patient confidentiality, the AP noted.

Hospital officials say that employees are required to sign a written confidentiality agreement and complete patient privacy training online. The hospital said it has notified all patients whose privacy was breached by Jackson and others.

On the other hand, a report by the California Department Health Services revealed that the UCLA Medical Center did not appropriately report the privacy bleaches to the Department of Health Services.

“We have no excuses,” Dr. David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Health System, said in a statement. “UCLA should have detected the violations by Ms. Jackson years ago and should have immediately initiated the process to dismiss her.”

All employees found to have breached patient confidentiality were disciplined or fired, Feinberg said. In California, the privacy of medical records is protected under the state and federal laws.



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