Jack Bouboushian reports:
A physician ruined a college student’s career prospects by taking photos of her recovering from an alcohol binge in a hospital emergency room and posting them, with comments, on Facebook and Instagram, the student claims in court.
Elena Chernyakova sued Dr. Vinaya Puppala, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the Feinberg School of Medicine in Cook County Court.
Read more about the complaint on Courthouse News.
According to the complaint, the physician had been alerted to her presence in the ER by a mutual friend and was not the patient’s physician nor involved in her care at all. He allegedly used his badge to gain access to her medical records. Also significantly, perhaps, “Dr. Puppala was seen by hospital security in the hospital taking the pictures and was asked to delete them immediately, which he refused to do.” If this is true, what else could or should have hospital security done at the time? And what disciplinary action will the hospital and School of Medicine take if these allegations are confirmed on investigation?