UCLA Medical Center under fire for failure to protect patient privacy

The scandal involving unauthorized access of computerized patient records at UCLA Medical Center is growing, the Los Angeles Times reported August 5.

 

The California Department of Public Health told the newspaper that the number of employees who improperly accessed patient records is 127, nearly double the number originally reported. Actress Farrah Fawcett, singer Britney Spears, and California’s first lady, Maria Shriver, are among the patients whose records employees viewed improperly.

 

One former employee faces federal criminal charges for allegedly viewing Fawcett’s file, according to the article. State officials said she had viewed the records of 939 patients “without any legitimate reason.”

 

State regulators told the newspaper that the hospital has failed to take adequate steps to protect patient confidentiality. “What we're seeing here is a clear pattern of repeated violations of patient medical records and patient confidentiality by UCLA,” Kim Belshe, secretary of the state's Health and Human Services Agency, told the newspaper. "It is absolutely unacceptable.”