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posted by chromas on Tuesday April 02 2019, @12:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-expectation-of-privacy dept.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital used hidden cameras in their women's health center, ostensibly due to concerns of potential theft of an anesthesia drug by employees. But the cameras also recorded video of countless patients undergoing examinations and medical procedures. The hospital is now facing a lawsuit filed by 81 women who claim to have been secretly recorded.

In 2016, the situation was exposed in a public letter written by Dr. Patrick Sullivan, who stated that he had discovered the cameras originally in 2013 and raised objections. After medical staff began to cover the cameras with tape, they were eventually removed. However, in 2016 he discovered more hidden cameras. Afterward, Dr. Sullivan claimed to have been the target of retaliation for his whistleblowing, which became the subject of a 2017 lawsuit.

The video recordings were allegedly stored on hospital computers and reviewed by a male security employee.

https://www.rt.com/usa/455248-hospital-secret-film-women-operation/

Also at 10News San Diego.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by chewbacon on Tuesday April 02 2019, @04:10AM (1 child)

    by chewbacon (1032) on Tuesday April 02 2019, @04:10AM (#823434)

    You're absolutely clueless. The cost of drugs is small, but that's not the problem. While it is rare, providers divert and abuse narcs. About once a year, I'd hear about an employee somewhere in my facility getting busted. Eventually one of my previous employers began analyzing users removing drugs from the system and doing drug tests for any flags raised. So the hospital can see a discrepancy in their narc counts or unusual patterns. Say a patient dies because an anesthesia provider was high on meds he cheated the machine out of. Hospital knew about the diversion of narcs according to their logs and then the hospital becomes one of the parties held liable in the wrongful death lawsuit. The hospital is doing this in the best interest of patients.

    In fact, cameras in patient care areas is nothing new. It's been going on for a really long time. Now the question is: were these patients informed? A quick line in the consent form would put this to bed a week ago: I consent to security surveillance to be stored... blah blah legal lingo. Sounds like they were not informed and that's a problem. Other issue: HIPAA is stepping up their secure storage requirements and it usually requires software (encryption) and physical security. That'll come out in the details whether or not it was HIPAA compliant. The gender of the staff reviewing the logs is, in my opinion, irrelevant and, on the surface, sexist. I'm more concerned over did he have a need to review it? Patient privacy rule of thumb: is it part of your job to look at this? No? Then it's a problem.

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  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday April 02 2019, @06:29PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday April 02 2019, @06:29PM (#823732) Journal

    The odd thing about HIPAA is it makes everyone jump about IT security (or at least the appearance of it), securing records, all this stuff that can be "solved" by buying a padlock or a firewall appliance...but then they go and shove ten patients in a room and the doctors are shouting to their patients about their medical conditions because it's the only way to be heard over all the noise while the next patient and their family is literally just as close to the doctor as the patient they're trying to discuss with...last few times I was in a hospital it made the whole concept of "patient privacy" feel like a freakin' joke. There is zero privacy in those places anymore. Does it really matter that much if there's MORE cameras in the age of smartphones when they already ask you to undress with other people watching??