UCLA Medical Center is planning to fire and discipline employees who violated privacy policies by looking at pop star Britney Spears’ medical records, a hospital official told The Associated Press.
The LA Times reported that at least 13 employees, who are not doctors, will be dismissed for accessing her medical files during her stay in the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
While they could not see her psychiatric records, they did see her other medical records from previous visits.
Twelve other employees, including some doctors, will also be disciplined, according to the Times.
Medical Center officials confirmed that the confidentiality breach took place.
They did not say how many employees would be affected, when the breach took place or what records were accessed.
UCLA Health System (uclahealth.org) released a statement regarding the Times’ report and addressed its privacy policies, but did not address the specifics of the allegations, citing the confidential nature of the issues.
“When possible confidentiality breaches arise, UCLA immediately launches an investigation and appropriate disciplinary action would then be initiated,” the statement read.
While there is no evidence that employees released the information to the press, improperly accessing medical records violates state and federal medical privacy laws and the hospital is now under investigation by the California Department of Public Health.
After Spears gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, at the UCLA Medical Center in September 2005, several employees were fired for similar actions.
Spears was admitted to the hospital twice in January under a state law allowing patients to be held against their will for up to 72 hours for evaluation if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.
On her second trip to the medical center, Spears stayed for nearly a week.
She was released on Feb. 6 and a judge has placed Spears and her estate under a temporary conservatorship, which is designed for individuals who cannot care for themselves, according to the AP.
With reports from Bruin wire services.