Hospital Workers Blamed For Clooney Data Leak
A New Jersey hospital suspended more than 20 workers on Wednesday for their role in leaking former "ER" star George Clooney's medical records to the media during his stay there after a recent motorcycle accident.
Employees of the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, N.J., were dismissed for a month without pay for violating a federal law on patient confidentiality known as the Health Information Privacy and Portability Act.
"They were severely disciplined," a hospital spokesman told the New York Times. Neither Clooney, nor his riding companion, Sarah Larson, complained about the disclosures of their injuries to reporters. Clooney suffered a rib fracture and Larson suffered multiple foot fractures.
"While I very much believe in a patient’s right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers," Clooney said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, denounced the suspensions as "an overreaction."
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