DID SURVEILLANCE GO TOO FAR? Sharp Grossmont Hospital is accused of breaching the privacy rights of thousands of female patients.

A San Diego hospital that secretly recorded thousands of anesthetized and exposed female patients undergoing obstetric surgery and giving birth as part of its covert effort to catch an anesthesiologist suspected of stealing anesthesia drugs is now facing a class-action lawsuit from more than 1,000 women.

Melissa Escalera, who had an emergency Caesarean at Sharp Grossmont Hospital's Women's Center in 2013, is listed as the plaintiff, "on behalf of herself and others similarly situated." The complaint, which was filed last Tuesday in the Superior Court of California, says "membership of the entire class is unknown, [but] estimated to be greater than 1,000 individuals."

"In their overzealous pursuit of evidence," it asserts, "defendants breached the privacy rights of thousands of patients when they were at their most vulnerable [and] further breached patient privacy by allowing non-medical personnel, such as security guards and attorneys, to view these private videos." The complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and penalties.

The hospital has said that the videos are part of the medical record, and that patients did not need to be informed that they were being videotaped. It shot them for nearly a year, starting in July 2012, using motion-activated cameras mounted inside computer monitors attached to anesthesia carts in 3 operating rooms.

The existence of the videos came to broader public attention when an attorney for anesthesiologist Adam Dorin, MD, MBA, subpoenaed nearly 7,000 clips he says would exonerate Dr. Dorin, whom the hospital accuses of stealing drugs from anesthesia carts in 2013. Sharp Grossmont's allegations rely on 12 videos that show Dr. Dorin removing vials from carts and putting them into the front pocket of his scrubs. It's seeking to have Dr. Dorin's medical license suspended.

Duane Admire, a lawyer for Dr. Dorin, and others, say the practice of removing propofol and other drugs from carts was common among anesthesiologists and other physicians at the hospital at the time. Dr. Dorin and Mr. Admire maintain that other videos likely show him either using the drugs on patients, or returning them. Dr. Dorin, a self-described whistle-blower who left Sharp Grossmont in 2013 and now practices at Palmdale (Calif.) Regional Medical Center, says the hospital has a vendetta against him because he called attention to what he considered unsafe and dishonest practices at the hospital.

The hospital is fighting the subpoena, acknowledging that many show "female patients in their most vulnerable state, under anesthesia, exposed and undergoing medical procedures." It has admitted, however, that in furnishing the allegedly damning clips of Dr. Dorin to Mr. Admire, it also accidentally provided several video clips of naked patients. The hospital later apologized for that breach.

John Cihomsky, a spokesman for Sharp Grossmont Hospital, says, "we do not have any comment on the class action suit at this time."

Jim Burger