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Hospital Leaked Patient’s Syphilis Diagnosis on Facebook, Claims Lawsuit

I’d imagine that being told you have an STD isn’t pleasant, but I’m pretty sure that it would be twice as awful if that news was made public – plastered all over Facebook, for inst...
Hospital Leaked Patient’s Syphilis Diagnosis on Facebook, Claims Lawsuit
Written by Josh Wolford
  • I’d imagine that being told you have an STD isn’t pleasant, but I’m pretty sure that it would be twice as awful if that news was made public – plastered all over Facebook, for instance.

    That’s what one Cincinnati woman is alleging in a new lawsuit.

    She claims that University of Cincinnati Medical Center employees posted a photo of her medical records on Facebook, to a group called “Team No Hoes.”

    Apparently, the photo not only contained her name and other personal information, but also displayed the fact that she had been diagnosed with syphilis.

    Yikes.

    “She was absolutely devastated. That is the most private of private medical information that was posted on Facebook and went out to a group on Facebook that had a huge dissemination,” Allen said. “For an employee of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to post that information on a social media device that millions of people have access to, it’s above and beyond the law and that’s why we feel that they’re responsible,” the woman’s attorney told WLWT.

    The suit not only name UC Medical center as a defendant, but also a hospital employee, a nurse, and the woman’s ex-boyfriend, who she claims masterminded the leak.

    UC Medical Center would only comment that they haven’t yet received a copy of the suit and even if they had, they can’t comment on pending litigation.

    The victim is seeking more than $25,000 in damages.

    No word on any internal actions taken against the employees named in the suit, but I assume they’ll be canned faster than you can say Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

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