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UCLA Hospital Employees Caught Peeking Through Celebrity Medical Records
By Lily Garza
August 21, 2008
An ongoing investigation means more legal trouble for the UCLA Hospital System. When the case arose in April only 67 workers were accused of looking through patient medical records but it has now been publicized that 127 are implicated in the investigation concerning violations of patient confidentiality.
Hospital workers were found using confidential supervisors' passwords to look up the medical records of many celebrities including California First Lady Maria Shriver, actress Farrah Fawcett, and singer Britney Spears. One woman, Lawanda Jackson, who has been fired, is suspected of looking through over 939 patients' records "without any legitimate reason" between April 2003 and May 2007. She is currently facing criminal charges for violating Fawcett's rights.
The hospital has been receiving complaints about privacy violations since 2004 when representatives for several celebrities complained when details of their hospitalizations appeared in the media.
In a statement released by Dr. David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Health System, he said "We have no excuses…UCLA should have detected the violations by Ms. Jackson years ago and should have immediately initiated the process to dismiss her….all other employees who were found to have violated patient confidentiality during our review have been disciplined, including some who have been terminated," he said. "On behalf of the entire leadership of the UCLA Health System, I am deeply sorry for this failure, and the personal distress these breaches may have caused."
The hospital said it has notified each patient whose privacy was breached and is currently updating its computer systems to block certain personal information from some records. It has also initiated more advanced privacy and security training to staff.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Kim Belshe, Secretary of the state's Heath and Human Services Agency, states that "What we are seeing is a clear pattern of repeated violations of patient medical records and confidentiality…It is unacceptable."
Gov. Schwarzenegger has even gotten involved, endorsing legislation to impose penalties on hospitals and healthcare workers who violate patient privacy. This new legislation proposes that workers who violate patient privacy would be fined $1,000 to $250,000 depending on the severity of the violation. Hospitals and other healthcare facility could also be held accountable for violations and be forced to pay hefty fines as well.
The California Hospital Association has not taken an official position on the legislation but does not want hospitals to be penalized for the actions of "rouge employees" as long as appropriate actions have been taken to protect patient privacy.
In April, Jackson told the LA Times she was just "being nosy" claiming that she did not leak any information to the press but was "just looking." Fawcett alleges that Jackson leaked personal information about her battle with cancer to the National Enquirer and other tabloids.
In his statement, Feinberg said that UCLA will continue to devote its attention to improving patient privacy.
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