Octuplets' hospital privacy fine

The hospital where octuplets were born in January has been fined for a second time for failing to protect the family's medical privacy.

Nadya Suleman attracted worldwide attention after giving birth to eight babies at Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower hospital in Los Angeles.

The hospital was fined $250,000 in May over staff looking at Suleman's records inappropriately.

The new $187,500 fine is for similar breaches of the babies' privacy.

"We have no reason to believe that anyone gave this information to anyone else or the media"

The latest fine is part of an on-going investigation into the case by the the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Kaiser Permanente, which carried out its own investigation into the case, said 27 people had either looked at either Suleman's or her babies' records without authorisation.

Of these, two were fired, nine were disciplined and 16 resigned.

Jim Anderson, a spokesman for the hospital, said: "We have no reason to believe that anyone gave this information to anyone else or the media."

Dr Mark Horton, CDPH director, said: "We are very concerned with violations of patient confidentiality and their potential harm to the residents of California.

"Medical privacy is a fundamental right and a critical component of quality medical care."

Controversy

Suleman - dubbed "Octo-Mom" by the media - gave birth to six boys and two girls by Caesarean section.

She attracted criticism after it was revealed that she was unemployed, and had conceived the octuplets, along with six other children, through IVF.

She said she wanted to make up for the loneliness she felt growing up as an only child.

Suleman has signed a deal to star in a reality TV series, and will be filmed for a proposed television show by production company Eyeworks.

Her lawyer said it would be "less intrusive" than other reality shows.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Bellflower Medical Center
California Department of Public Health
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