Med Mal News

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Hospital Agrees to Pay Fine for Allowing Television Filming of Patients

On April 21, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had settled with New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) in the amount of $2.2 million for what HHS called its “egregious” disclosure of two patients' health information without their consent. See http://1.usa.gov/1WWBnDh.

The case stemmed from the filming of two patients for the television program “NY Med,” which aired on ABC television for two seasons. One of the patients filmed was an older man who was hit by a truck and then taken to NYP for treatment, where he died. His face was blurred out for the broadcast, but the man's family recognized him and were outraged that his last moments were filmed and publicized without his ' or their ' permission. Their story was widely covered by the press.

According to the April 21 HHS release, the agency found that “[b]y allowing individuals receiving urgent medical care to be filmed without their authorization by members of the media, NYP's actions blatantly violate the HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996] Rules, which were specifically designed to prohibit the disclosure of individual's PHI [private health information], including images, in circumstances such as these.” In addition to the fine, NYP has agreed to have OCR monitor of its facilities for a period of two years in order to ensure compliance with the obligations imposed by HIPAA.

HHS has published a new FAQ on the subject of media access to HIPAA-protected health care information, which is available at http://1.usa.gov/1TI1Y1r. It states that protected health information may only be disclosed to the media without patient or responsible representative permission in a few limited circumstances, such as when the media can help to locate the family or friends of an unidentified and incapacitated person (see 45 C.F.R. 164.510(b)(1)(ii)); or a covered entity may disclose that a particular patient is located in the facility and can characterize their condition in general terms, but may not communicate specific medical information about the patient (see 45 C.F.R. 164.510(a)).

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Joan Rivers Malpractice Case Settled

On May 12, representatives of the family of Joan Rivers announced that they had settled their lawsuit against the doctors and clinic involved in the accidental death of the famous comedian and talk show host. The 81-year-old Rivers was undergoing a diagnostic procedure under anesthesia at the Manhattan outpatient surgical center, Yorkville Endoscopy, when things went wrong and she lapsed into a coma from which she never recovered. Rivers' family had her removed from life support a week later and she died. The family later filed suit for medical malpractice, claiming, among other things, that personnel at Yorkville Endoscopy took unauthorized pictures of Rivers while she was sedated, performed medical procedures on her that she had not consented to, and failed to call for emergency assistance in a timely manner when it became apparent that Rivers' vital signs were deteriorating. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

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