(AFP) – Mar 14, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The University of California's prestigious medical center is planning to fire at least 13 employees for reading pop star Britney Spears' private health records, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Citing someone familiar with the matter, the newspaper said at least six others had been suspended for snooping and six more faced disciplinary action.

Spears, 26, was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center's psychiatric ward on January 31 amid concerns for her mental health, and released six days later. However, the Times said the staff were being disciplined over a previous incident.

The newspaper also said it was not the first time staff had been caught peeking.

Hospital officials had disciplined workers for looking at Spears' records after she gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, in 2005 at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, it said.

"It's not only surprising, it's very frustrating and it's very disappointing," Jeri Simpson, the Santa Monica hospital's human resources director, told the Times.

"I feel like we do everything that we possibly can to ensure the privacy of our patients and I know we feel horrible that it happened again."

She said UCLA treats celebrities "all the time and you never hear about this," adding: "I don't know what it is about this particular person (Spears), I don't know what it is about her."

Medical records are protected by federal law, and the newspaper said UCLA officials wrote to staff the morning Spears was hospitalized in January to remind them they were barred from viewing records of anyone but their direct patients.

"Please remember that any unauthorized access by a workforce member will be subject to disciplinary action, which could include termination," chief compliance and privacy officer Carole Klove wrote in an email memo to employees.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »