UCLA Patient Medical Files Scandal

Medical center workers have been improperly looking at the confidential medical files of patients such as Britney Spears and Tom Cruise.

UCLA Patient Medical Files Scandal

UCLA Medical Center workers have been improperly looking at the confidential medical files of patients such as Britney Spears and Tom Cruise

According to a former UCLA Medical Center employee, medical files for patients such as Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Mariah Carey, George Harrison, the first lady of California, Maria Shriverhas, and Mamas and the Papas mastermind John Phillips have all been viewed by staff workers.

James Duckstad, a former hospital assistant at UCLA, was one of a group of workers fired in 1995 for records snooping. He stated to the Los Angeles Times that they looked at computerized medical files of celebrities including actors Cruise and Dom DeLuise.

"It was news throughout the whole hospital that employees were fired for screwing around in the computer," said Duckstad, who claimed his motive was boredom while on the night shift. "This was in 1995, and here we are 13 years later — and either they didn't follow the policy or people didn't take it that seriously."

Dr. David Feinberg, the head of the UCLA Hospital System, stated the breaches are being taken "extremely seriously. If we failed in the past," he said, "we will do everything we can to improve our systems."

More and more snoopers are coming forward. Just earlier this week, former administrative specialist Lawanda J. Jackson confirmed she peeked into the medical records of more than 60 UCLA patients in 2006-2007.

Jackson resigned last May from the hospital before they could fire her. Jackson said she was just being "nosy" by looking at the records and did not leak any information.

Kim Belshe, the secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said her agency is "very concerned about what appears to be a pattern of repeated violations."

The state will be taking action against UCLA, she said.