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Health workers violated privacy of Iowa athlete, girlfriend

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May 19th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has fired one student health clinic worker and disciplined another for breaching the privacy of an athlete and his girlfriend by immediately discussing the results of their pregnancy test. The violations come after Iowa fired three and suspended two for accessing the records of football players who were hospitalized in 2011. The university has increased its training on health privacy rules.

According to records The Associated Press obtained under Iowa’s open records law, the latest investigation found a lab worker told a clerk Dec. 31 that a pregnancy test was positive and identified a male athlete in the waiting room. The clerk then spoke with medical assistants who treated the patient to ask whether the athlete was with her and how the couple reacted.