Here six things to know about the incident in question and the NFL player’s pending lawsuit.
1. As neither a healthcare organization nor related business entity, the media is not a covered under HIPAA.
2. In a Sports Illustrated interview, Mr. Schefter offered an explanation for his decision to publicly share the player’s medical record. “We’ve got a great group of editors and production staff, and I could have leaned on them even more,” he said. “On this one, there should have been even more discussion than there was due to the sensitivity of the story; that’s on me,” he said in the interview.
3. Mr. Pierre-Paul had the procedure to amputate his right index finger, following a fireworks-related accident, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. The hospital fired two employees in relation to his leaked medical record, according to a Miami Herald report. The employees, a nurse and secretary, were let go for inappropriately accessing the medical record seven months after the initial leak.
4. The NFL player’s pending lawsuit against ESPN and Mr. Schefter seeks $15,000 in damages from both parties for violating his privacy rights, according to the timesunion report.
5. ESPN and its reporter are not covered entities on HIPAA, but the lawsuit focuses instead on a Florida statute that outlines ownership and control of patient records, according to Deadspin.
6. Jackson Memorial Hospital settled a separate lawsuit related to the incident, according to the Deadspin report.
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