International Law

Hospital staff fired for peeks at Nadya Suleman's files

The LA Times' blog "Dish Rag" is reporting that fifteen employees of Kaiser Permanente have been fired and eight disciplined for looking at the medical records of Nadya Suleman (aka the Octomom).

Hospital staff fired for peeks at Nadya Suleman's files The Dish Rag Los Angeles Times.

"We always provide training on the importance of patient privacy and confidentiality," hospital rep Jim Anderson told Us Weekly. "We knew from the time she was admitted to the hospital in December, this case would attract attention. Numerous training sessions were held to remind people of the need to keep the information confidential."

Eight other employees at the hospital in Bellflower, Calif., also were disciplined.

While there's no reason to believe that any information was leaked to the media (oh,yeah, right ...), Anderson says to LA Now, "this was human nature and curiosity that got the best of people."

Further coverage:

Octomom's hospital records accessed, 15 workers fired - SC Magazine US:

"Hospital officials told the Los Angeles Times that the breach was discovered during computer monitoring and the hospital was able to determine which employees had medical reason to access Suleman's files. Anderson did not indicate what type of hospital employees accessed the records but said there is no indication that the information was sold or accessed for any reason other than curiosity."

Full post as published by The Canadian Privacy Law Blog on March 31, 2009 (boomark / email).