UCLA would not identify others whose privacy was breached, citing patient confidentiality rules.
State regulators began investigating last month after The Times reported that the hospital was firing 13 workers and disciplining 12 others for snooping in pop star Britney Spears' records during her stay in UCLA's neuropsychiatric unit earlier this year. At the time, UCLA told the newspaper -- and state regulators -- that the Spears breach was an isolated event.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, April 08, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
UCLA: A Section A article Monday on breaches of the private files of UCLA patients said Dr. David Feinberg joined UCLA in July. He became chief executive of the UCLA Hospital System in July; before that he was medical director of UCLA's neuropsychiatric hospital.
Then last week, The Times reported that a different UCLA employee had repeatedly looked at records of Fawcett, who was receiving cancer treatment at the hospital last year.
Fawcett's lawyers told the newspaper they were concerned that details about her cancer treatment may have been leaked or sold to tabloids, including the National Enquirer, because a number of sensationalized reports were printed soon after her visits there. A story under the headline "Farrah's Cancer Is Back!" was published before the actress was able to tell her son about the recurrence, her representatives said.
When asked last week if there were other recent high-profile breaches along the lines of the ones involving Spears and Fawcett, UCLA's chief compliance and privacy officer Carole A. Klove said, "Not to my knowledge." A UCLA spokeswoman said Sunday that Klove was referring only to current cases.
While looking into the breaches in Fawcett's case, a state inspector discovered the other violations Friday. The state Department of Public Health said it now has several investigations underway, and it is working with the federal government.
"UCLA assured us -- the state -- that the initial breach [of Spears' records] was an anomaly," Belshe said. "And we have since learned that, simply put, it is not anomalous."
The latest development at UCLA highlights the irony that as privacy laws have become stronger, the computerization of medical records can increase the risk of unauthorized scrutiny.
Such widespread breaches, however, appear to be rare. Computers allow UCLA and other hospitals to track which employees call up individual records.
In Spears' case, Feinberg said, UCLA was able to quickly identify trespassers and take almost immediate action against them, demonstrating that the medical center had learned from previous lapses.
Shriver and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were notified Friday evening that her records had been viewed inappropriately, state officials said Sunday.
