Apr 8, 2008 8:54 am US/Pacific
Gov. Calls For Snooping Of Medical Files To Stop
LOS ANGELES
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is speaking out about an unauthorized UCLA Medical Center employee who allegedly looked into his wife's medical records.
"I have been a victim of this in my own hospital visits," Schwarzenegger said in Sacramento Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported. He said the snooping occurred when he visited hospitals "for heart surgery or hip surgery, shoulder surgery, all of those things."
The governor said every time he has left an operating room, he has been told there were "people going through your file that had white coats on. Obviously, they snuck into the hospital. They had nothing to do with the hospital staff at all. So those things happen," according to the Times.
California's first lady, Maria Shriver, and Farrah Fawcett were among 32 celebrities, politicians and other high-profile patients at UCLA Medical Center whose files were viewed by unauthorized personnel.
Schwarzenegger said he will push hospitals to implement new safeguards to stop these breaches of privacy, according to The Times.
"It is not just UCLA," he said, The Times reported. "This kind of thing has been happening all over the state, wherever there are celebrities involved. ... Everyone's medical history ought to be protected. That is the responsibility of the hospital. So we are going to work with them and find a way."
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