I have previously noted developments in the case of Alex Rodriguez (“A-Rod”) and Major League Baseball’s investigation of him because records with health information were involved. On some level, I think I view this case as workplace issue and how far employers can go to investigate drug or substance use.
By now, most people know that A-Rod was hit with a huge suspension by MLB, but Gus Garcia-Roberts has a report on MLB’s use of stolen documents:
Major League Baseball ignored repeated warnings that records they sought in the Alex Rodriguez Biogenesis scandal had been stolen and that they were not to purchase them, according to Florida investigators and an April police report obtained by Newsday.
MLB investigators bought Biogenesis records anyway, and a Boca Raton police detective investigating the theft noted that baseball officials neglected to notify law enforcement officials that they had done so for nearly eight months.
The police report, which has not been previously publicized, details how a detective’s investigation into the burglary of documents from a car parked outside a strip-mall tanning salon turned into an examination of whether MLB officials broke the law when they paid for records showing that players had used performance-enhancing drugs.
You can read more about it on Newsday if you have a subscription. It’s a case that is fascinating on a number of levels, but it’s important to remember that the anti-aging clinic involved in the case was not a HIPAA-covered entity.