Breaking NewsSponsored by The Sullivan Auto Group
Subscribe: Home Delivery Special!
Gov. Schwarzenegger seeks fix for celebrity health leaks
By Andy Furillo - afurillo@sacbee.com
Last Updated 4:52 pm PDT Monday, April 7, 2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today his administration is working with the UCLA Medical Center to plug confidentiality breaches that have allowed unauthorized personnel to view records on celebrity patients, including his wife, Maria Shriver.
"This kind of practice has been happening all over the state, wherever there's celebrities involved," Schwarzenegger said in response to a reporter's question at the American River Parkway.
Schwarzenegger's comments followed a story in the Los Angeles Times that a UCLA hospital employee viewed electronic patient records on Shriver and 31 other celebrities. Records on celebrities such as Britney Spears and Farrah Fawcett also have been improperly viewed by hospital employees, with the information later appearing in tabloid newspapers, the Times reported.
The governor said his health and human services secretary, Kim Belshe, is working with UCLA officials to get a handle on the problem. Belshe told the Times that the disclosures of confidential information on the celebrities "appears to be a pattern of repeated violations."
Schwarzenegger said he has "been a victim of this" in previous hospital visits involving his heart, hip and shoulder surgeries.
"Every single time I've heard, just by the time I was wheeled out of the operation rooms, people were telling me there were kind of, you know, people going through your files that had white coats on...that obviously snuck into the hospital that had nothing to do with the hospital staff at all," Schwarzenegger said.
"So those things happen," he said.
Hospitals need to develop procedures to protect patient information "if they're celebrities, if they're business executives, or just ordinary citizens," Schwarzenegger said. "Everyone's file ought to be protected, and everyone's medical history ought to be protected. That is the responsibility of the hospital, and so we're going to go work with them to find a way so that we can help them protect everyone's files."
Unique content, exceptional value. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Most Popular
More Stories in Politics
News |
Sports |
Business |
Politics |
Opinion |
Entertainment |
Lifestyle |
Travel |
Blogs |
Cars |
Homes |
Jobs |
Classifieds/Shopping
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Site Map | Advertise | Guide to The Bee | Bee Jobs | FAQs | RSS
Contact Us | Subscribe | Manage Your Subscription | E-newsletters | Sacbeemail | Archives
sacbee.com | Sacramento.com | Capitol Alert | SacMomsClub.com | SacPaws.com
Copyright © The Sacramento Bee
2100 Q St. P.O. Box 15779 Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 321-1000