Curiosity Over Britney Kills Careers of 13 Cats

UCLA Medical Center is taking steps to fire 13 employees who tried to peek at the medical records of pop star Britney Spears while she was hospitalized there for psychiatric care.

Six doctors are also facing disciplinary charges for sneaking a look at the records, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Officials at the hospital say it isn't the first time employees have been fired over the violation of Spears's medical records. Job terminations occurred when Spears was hospitalized in 2005 for the birth of her son, they said.

The employees were identified by studying access control information, according to Carole Klove, chief compliance and privacy officer at UCLA Medical Center.

"Right from the minute [Spears] came in, audits were continually being done," Klove told the LA Times. "We watch this all the time. We have people dedicated to looking at records to monitor access."

Ironically, the snoopers probably did not see what they had hoped to see. The psychiatric records have an extra level of authentication and Spears's records can only be viewed by workers in the neuropsychiatric hospital, Klove said. Other workers would only be able to see Spears's health history from previous visits to the hospital.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading