A lawsuit filed March 29 alleges Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego used hidden cameras to secretly record appointments with 1,800 patients at a women’s health center in El Cajon, Calif., according to KGTV.
According to the lawsuit, the recordings took place inside three labor and delivery operating rooms between July 17, 2012, and June 20, 2013. Plaintiffs allege several types of operations were recorded on the hidden cameras, including hysterectomies, sterilizations and caesarean births. The cameras also allegedly recorded women undressing.
In court documents, the hospital said the motion-activated cameras were used as part of an investigation “into whether an employee was stealing the anesthesia drug propofol from drug carts in the operating rooms,” according to the report.
The lawsuit claims multiple people, including nonmedical personnel, had access to the recordings and the hospital “did not log or track who accessed the recordings, why, or when.”
Regarding the lawsuit, the hospital issued the following statement to KGTV: “Between July 2012 and June 2013, Sharp Grossmont Hospital installed and operated one hidden camera on the anesthesia cart located in each of three operating rooms in the Women’s Center. The purpose of the three cameras was to ensure patient safety by determining the cause of drugs missing from the carts. A[n] initial lawsuit alleging privacy violations and other claims stemming from the video recording was filed against Sharp HealthCare and Sharp Grossmont Hospital in 2016. The case remains active and Sharp is not in a position to comment further about the matter. Sharp HealthCare and Sharp Grossmont Hospital continue to take extensive measures to protect the privacy of its patients.”
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