A Twist on Patient Privacy
Still recovering from Thanksgiving (and 2 nights of reenacting the feast, thanks to Tupperware and a microwave), I spent last Sunday morning lounging on the couch and watching the news. I usually zone out during the sports segment, but a story about Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress caught my attention. No game-saving play, no philanthropic Thanksgiving deed; instead, the man shot himself in the thigh-at a nightclub-on accident.
I shook my head and chalked the incident up as a (highly illegal) social faux pax that will likely be recounted on SportsNight and E!'s stupid celebrity moments. Why Burress had a gun and why the safety was off, I'll leave for the police to untangle.
But scan the news sites today and viola! The plot thickens. Investigators are looking into some questionable practices at the hospital where Burress was treated; namely, why the incident wasn't reported. Hospitals are required by law to report gun shot wounds to authorities, but this time, no notification was issued.
With UCLA Medical Center still embroiled in controversy surrounding patient privacy breaches-most recently, an employee pleaded guilty to selling Britney Spears' medical information to the National Enquirer-it's not surprising that a facility would want to tip-toe around Burress' celeb status. But by keeping tight-lipped, doctors violated their legal obligation to report a gunshot wound. Countless hospitals have kept their mouths shut to protect celebrities in their care, but a hospital that actually breaks a law when doing so? That's newsworthy.
Perhaps it was a no-win situation; alert the police (and, inevitably, every media outlet in the metro area) or keep Burress' treatment under wraps and hope authorities don't catch wind. No matter the facility's intentions, you have to give employees some credit for not blabbing as soon as Burress hopped on the examination table. But by failing to alert police, the facility still broke the law-and to protect someone who allegedly had a loaded gun in a public place, nonetheless.
Burress may be nursing his thigh for a while, but his doctors just shot themselves in the foot.