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.