LATEST: Employees at UCLA Medical Center have been snooping into the hospital records of celebrities including TOM CRUISE as far back as 1995, a former worker has claimed.
James Duckstad tells the Los Angeles Times that officials at the L.A. hospital fired a group of staff, including himself, in 1995 for looking into the computer files of patients such as Cruise and Dom DeLuise.
Earlier this month (Apr08), former UCLA employee Lawanda J. Jackson admitted she improperly accessed the medical records of over 60 patients, including Farrah Fawcett and Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver, in 2006 and 2007.
Duckstad says, "It was news throughout the whole hospital that employees were fired for screwing around in the computer. This was in 1995, and here we are 13 years later - and either they didn't follow the policy or people didn't take it that seriously."
However, UCLA's Dr. David Feinberg says, "(We are treating this) extremely seriously. If we failed in the past, we will do everything we can to improve our systems."
Earlier this year (08), UCLA Medical Center bosses fired 12 people and suspended six others after discovering as many as 20 staff members had attempted to defy medical centre rules and obtain confidential information about Britney Spears.