According to the Associated Press, over 120 workers at a Los Angeles hospital read without permission celebrities' medical records and other personal information between January 2004 and June 2006.

Ignoring the messages saying that unauthorized access to medical records would lead to sanctions and disciplinary measures taken by UCLA, 127 medical center employees accessed celebrity files. The hospital carries on improving its records security and employee training in an attempt to put a stop to such occurrences.

The California Department of Health discovered that almost twice as many medical center workers than were previously reported glanced at confidential medical files at the UCLA medical center.

However, the main problem is represented by Lawanda Jackson, a former worker of the hospital who peeped into medical records for almost 950 patients, using her supervisor’s computer password. The woman is facing federal charges for allegedly looking at the confidential medical records of the California First Lady Maria Shriver and 60 other people, without any permission. She is also accused of supposedly breaching the privacy of actress Farrah Fawcett, whose lawyers fear that the personal information could be published in tabloids.

"What's startling to us is, as we get to a point where we feel we've addressed a specific complaint and a specific issue, we identify additional issues," stated Kathleen Billingsley, head of the state health department's Center for Healthcare Quality. "It's very disturbing to see this," she added.

In line with UCLA medical center, all patients whose privacy was violated by Lawanda Jackson have been given notice. As far as the employees who breached patient confidentiality concerns, they “have been disciplined, including some who have been terminated,” said Dr. David Feinberg, chief executive of the UCLA Health System.