UCLA Worker Punished For Sneaking Peek At Farrah Fawcett’s Medical File
It’s a crying shame that when someone is fighting what is arguably the biggest battle of their life, they have to worry that some unscrupulous, money-grubbing twit is going to sell their secrets to the tabloids. That’s what happened to Farrah Fawcett, as she continues her fight against cancer:
UCLA Medical Center has disciplined an employee for snooping in Farrah Fawcett’s medical records, the hospital said Wednesday, a few weeks after announcing that several employees were fired for taking peeks at Britney Spears’ files.
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.”
Farrah was declared cancer-free in February 2007, but the cancer returned a few months later. She has been seeking treatment in Germany:
“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.” [...]
“She is cautiously optimistic,” Craig J. Nevius told the Times. Nevius is producing a documentary about the former star of “Charlie’s Angels” and her battle with cancer.
“Farrah has learned the hard way that with cancer, the test is time. At the moment she has no detectable cancer,” he said.
In related snoopiness, several workers were disciplined and thirteen were fired after peeking around in Britney’s files when she had her 5150 hold a few months ago.
For the Enquirer’s part, they are taking the high road:
Enquirer senior reporter Alan Smith told the Times that Fawcett’s cancer is newsworthy.
“We publish what we believe is accurate,” he said.
Isn’t that nice. I could come on here and say that Britney is the spawn of two aliens and that she drinks goat’s blood for breakfast, claim that I believe it is accurate, and I guess that makes it journalism. Hey, I just found a way to make my job a whole lot easier! Forget all the fact-checking, cross-referencing, and making sure I get my story straight, I’ll just pull things out of my butt and say, “I believe it is accurate.” Because if I believe it, it’s so!
Look, whether you are Farrah Fawcett, Britney Spears, or Joe Schmoe The Ragpicker, when you enter a hospital you have certain expectations of privacy. Anyone who would sell things like this to the tabloid press should not only be fired but prevented from working in any sort of health-care industry again, no matter if they were a nurse or a janitor. You need to concentrate on getting well, not worrying about whether somebody is rifling through your personal files.
Our prayers and best wishes go out to Farrah in her continued recovery.
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[...] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptUCLA Medical Center has disciplined an employee for snooping in Farrah Fawcett’s medical records, the hospital said Wednesday, a few weeks after announcing that several employees were fired for taking peeks at Britney Spears’ files. … [...]
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