Fame and Privacy
The major news outlets have done stories on actress Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer. I watched part of her documentary and felt compassion for someone going through a horrible illness in public. The price of fame comes with a high cost. In addition to dealing with this illness, Ms. Fawcett has had to fight to keep her health information private.
Ms. Fawcett received treatment at UCLA Medical Center. Before the actress could inform her family that her cancer her returned the tabloids posted the information on their Web site. Ms. Fawcett was convinced that the breach occurred at their facility. It was later discovered that an employee not involved in Ms. Fawcett's care had viewed her records multiple times. Ms. Fawcett wanted the name of the employee involved in the breach but UCLA would not release the information because of employee privacy. UCLA denies that the employee involved sold or release the information to the tabloids.
I wondered why Ms. Fawcett would make a documentary about her personal struggle with cancer. After watching her documentary and the news accounts of her battle with the tabloids to keep her health information private, I have a better understanding of her decision. It is important for her to tell her story and not let the tabloids distort the truth. It is unthinkable that you could be fighting a terminal illness and have to worry about your health information being made public.
Because UCLA treats high profile individuals, the temptation by employees to snoop into their medical records is greater. It is clear that UCLA needs more rigorous controls in place to avoid this incident from occurring again. Celebrities like all patients deserve the right to privacy.