Resources for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Former UCLA Health Employee Charged With Selling Celeb Records To Media

www.informationweek.com

Prosecutors have accused an administrative assistant of illegally accessing UCLA Medical Center patients' health records and selling celebrities' private health information to a national media outlet. The accusations appeared in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The indictment states that the former employee, Lawanda Jackson, 49, accessed and transferred the protected information in May 2007 in exchange for at least $4,600 worth of checks that were made out to her husband. The document does not state whose information was breached or which media outlet paid for the information.

The Los Angeles Times linked the indictment to stolen records on Maria Shriver and Farrah Fawcett. The hospital has said that 61 celebrities' records have been illegally accessed and that it fired 13 employees because of the problem. Another six employees faced discipline and six doctors were under investigation. The hospital also said it strengthened its privacy protection practices in light of breaches.

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