Hospital Worker Fired For Leaking Farrah Fawcett's Medical Records

LOS ANGELES — UCLA Medical Center has disciplined an employee for accessing Farrah Fawcett's medical records, officials said Wednesday. Fawcett expressed concern to a doctor in May that details of her condition were being leaked to tabloids, and he reported it to hospital executives, UCLA spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said.

Fawcett's attorney, Kim Swartz, said an employee at the hospital accessed Fawcett's medical records without authorization, and details about her cancer treatment later showed up in the National Enquirer. The tabloid published details about a recurrence in Fawcett's cancer before she had a chance to tell family and friends, Swartz said.

"She's a very private person and she's reluctant to go public about this, let alone take legal action," Swartz said. "She's fighting for her life."

The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Wednesday that hospital officials fired an employee who reviewed Fawcett's records without authorization.

The UCLA spokeswoman would not confirm a firing and would not specify the disciplinary action.

Moster said the hospital requires all staff to complete training on patient privacy issues and sign confidentiality agreements.

Doctors declared Fawcett, 61, cancer-free in February 2007, but her cancer returned a few months later.

"It's disturbing to her when there are false reports that she's given up and wants to die, when the opposite is true," said Swartz. "She's a strong person and a fighter."

The 1970s television icon is currently being treated for cancer in Germany.

Last month, UCLA Medical Center announced the firing of 13 workers and disciplined several others for snooping into the electronic medical records of Britney Spears.

Comments

[SharonB]

This is a very big deal. When people go to the hospital, they are very vulnerable. The last thing they should have to worry about is some stranger pawing through their chart and calling all over town talking about it.
I work at a hospital. It is part of my job to gather the Code Blue team when a patient has a crisis and is in distress. Tuesday night a close friend was brought in by ambulance during my shift and he was a Code Blue. He did not make it. Even though he was a good friend of my husband's as well, I could not even mention to my husband that he had been brought in to the hospital, much less that he died, until someone from the family contacted us personally and told us. When the phone call came the next day, my husband understood perfectly why I didn't tell him.
There are very few things we really have control over when it comes to privacy. I figure I might not be able to do much to stem the tide of people peering into our lives when they have no right to do so, but I can be ethical myself. I hope it helps.

[mellene]

Finally, someone will stick up for privacy. What the heck has this world become when workers think it's just fine and dandy to leak personal medical records.

[RoseMerry]

Nice. I love with the bad guys get fired for doing bad!

[zkazan]

There's nothing more confidential than medical records. I worked in the field for almost 20 years and tended to many emergency and acute care patients. I had access to everything as I did H&Ps on most (history and physical). One patient, the wife of a prominent judge in town came in pretty beaten up claiming she 'fell down the stairs', leaving her with finger impressions on her neck. Go figure! During the history portion I was told of some rather vile behavior and practices by her husband. OK, now fast forward 20 years. The authorities were called to the home where she proceeded to give a statement of being assaulted and held against her will and his version being that she was drunk and got rowdy assaulting him. He Baker acted her for 2 weeks. You have no idea how very much I wanted to get in contact with anybody regarding this animal's history of abuse. So on what side of the ethics issue do I come down on. Its not enough to say that if something dire happens, that of course I would come forward, but I'm still not supposed to. And though I'm not clergy or attorney, I still have an oath of confidentiality. And there's her husband THE JUDGE who has only moved up in his elite positioning for a political spot. Caught between that proverbial rock and a hard place.

[Roose]

Selling someone's medical records is absolutely disgraceful. They should enact laws prohibiting this practice or put teeth in existing laws. These people should be charged with a crime. Despicable!

[calirighty]

This violates HIPAA rules and IS a crime and IS punishable under the law.

[newshawk14]

I once worked for the biophysics department at the UCLA Medical Center, and I find it disturbing
to learn of the lack of professional integrity of some of the employees. Hopefully the situation will
be strongly corrected and that will be the end of it.

[auramac]

Yes- human beings care.

[lchocho]

Does anybody cares?

[marzipan]

Yes, decent people with a moral compass care which excludes you .

[antaeus]

Yes, actually: those of us regular folks in LA who are in the orbit of UCLA, and who are sick of the way celebrity obsession seems to have tainted every aspect of our daily lives. This is a major health provider for many of us, yet this isn't the first story to suggest that there's something broken in the bureaucracy at this bloated university.

[Steamboater]

Yeah. We should care when hospital employees release confidential records to make a buck. It's not just celebrities who are in jeopardy either. A hospital employee could release info to relatives you don't want having that info, to someone stalking someone, to an abusive husband or ex-husband or boyfriend you've gotten an order from a court from ordering him to stay away, to a blackmailer, anyone and all for money.
As for Fawcett, bless her. No one should have to suffer cancer.

[Pennsylvanianne]

Absolutely, people care if someone leaks their medical records. If your worst enemy had access to your records, would you care? We as patients sign forms that no one is to leak our records without our permission. I wonder if health-care workers have to sign contracts that they NOT release records. This happened to Farrah because she is famous, but it could happen to anyone if hospitals do not have a zero-tolerance policy.

[madridwontgodown]

lchocho,
when it comes to this matter, put the doucheness aside. if you arent educated on the matter then give you keyboard a break.