UCLA Medical Center has fired 13 workers, will suspend six more, and is set to discipline six doctors for looking at Britney Spear’s computerized medical records without authorization. Hospital officials said this also happened in September, 2005 when she had Sean Preston at that hospital. Instead of installing a security system with multiple levels of access on their computer records, they’re blaming the people who looked at them when they left them wide open. I know people shouldn’t be snooping like that and they’re entirely to blame, but it’s lame of the hospital not to have done something about it the first time and to think the solution is to let heads roll. It’s human nature to snoop like that and they need to hire a programmer because this is going to happen no matter who they fire.

The hospital says that only Britney’s non-psychiatric records were accessible to staff. When anyone uses the system it’s easy to see what they’re looking at, because there’s an audit trail created with their PIN number.

The union for the hospital workers is pissed that only workers at a lower level, and no doctors, are getting fired for the same offense.

Unlike UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has a system that lets them limit access to certain records only to people who are authorized to view them. That sounds a hell of a lot cheaper to install than having to hire 13 new workers just because they were nosy.

This isn’t an issue of selling information to the tabloids, either, at least according to the hospital. They say “there is no evidence that any employee leaked information to the media or sold it,” and considering that her psychiatric records were in a separate system, there probably wasn’t much dirt there anyway.

Listen to how UCLA staff spins this to make it sound like they’re doing something about it. There is no mention of installing security measures to limit access, they think that they should trust people and then fire them afterwards:

Questioned about the breaches, officials acknowledged that it was not the first time UCLA had disciplined workers for looking at Spears’ records. Several were caught prying into records after Spears gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, in September 2005 at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, officials said. Some were fired.

“It’s not only surprising, it’s very frustrating and it’s very disappointing,” said Jeri Simpson, the Santa Monica hospital’s director of human resources, who handled the discipline in the first instance.

“I feel like we do everything that we possibly can to ensure the privacy of our patients and I know we feel horrible that it happened again.”

Simpson said UCLA treats celebrities “all the time and you never hear about this.”

“I don’t know what it is about this particular person, I don’t know what it is about her,” she added, referring to Spears.

Hoping to head off such problems, UCLA officials sent a memo the morning Spears was hospitalized Jan. 31, reminding employees that they were not allowed to peruse records unless directly caring for a patient. Spears, 26, was not specifically mentioned.

“Each member of our workforce, which includes our physicians, faculty, employees, volunteers and students, is responsible to ensure that medical information is only accessed as required for treatment, for facilitating payment of a claim or for supporting our healthcare operations,” chief compliance and privacy officer Carole A. Klove wrote in an e-mail to all employees.

“Please remember that any unauthorized access by a workforce member will be subject to disciplinary action, which could include termination.”…

Klove declined to discuss specifics of the most recent incidents, citing privacy protections for patients and workers. But she did say the hospital began taking disciplinary actions immediately upon discovering each breach.

“Right from the minute she came in, audits were continually being done,” she said. “We watch this all the time. We have people dedicated to looking at records to monitor access.”

When employees look at a patient’s records electronically, they leave an electronic trail. “We advise all of our workforce that their password is their PIN for lack of a better analogy, and it is their signature,” Klove said. When it is used, the systems track which screens they view and for how long.

[From The LATimes]

It sounds like that audit trail is working really well for you, UCLA medical center. /End rant on corporate stupidity.

In related news, staff on the set of “How I Met Your Mother,” in which Britney will guest star, are wearing wristbands to make sure that unauthorized people don’t gain access to the set while the pop star is there. Star Neil Patrick Harris said he was even denied entry to the stage once when the security teams changed and didn’t recognize him.

Britney is shown shopping at the Beverly Center yesterday. I wonder if her $1,500 a week allowance rolls over to the next week of if she’s got to use it or lose it. Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Kevin Federline is being paid a whopping $175,000 to show up at his 30th birthday party at Pure nightclub in Vegas. The guy doesn’t need to get a real job, because he makes more than most of the world does in a couple years by just showing up for one night, making his squinty “I’m taking a shit” face and drinking out of his pimp cup. He doesn’t even have to rap, and will probably just get on the mic to thank everyone for coming.

Multiple sources tell PageSix.com that former Mr. Britney Spears is being paid at least six figures to host his 30th birthday party at the Las Vegas hotspot on March 21. (Check out the invite, above!) One insider says he will make about $175,000.

“Kevin is a big spender, and a draw for the crowds. So the money he gets is nothing compared to the money they make,” the source tells PageSix.com.

The big payday is particularly interesting considering that earlier this week, Britney’s lawyer argued that the pop star shouldn’t have to pay for Kevin’s legal fees because he has more money than he claims.

The family insider tells us that Kevin is planning on spending a few days in Las Vegas, which might give his ex-wife a chance to spend some quality time with their kids.

[From Page Six]

The FedEx owes around 1/2 a million in lawyers fees for his legal team that tries to bill as much as possible while fighting his neverending custody battle with his ex, Britney Spears. Britney is obligated to pay K-Fed’s legal bills, but her team is arguing that he can afford to foot a portion of the bill, given how large he lives.

While Federline is in Vegas Britney will get to see her toddler sons in supervised visits. Federline is said to have been instrumental in working to ensure that she had visitation rights restored once her father stepped in as conservator.

Break the Ice

There was a lot of anticipation built up for Britney’s new music video after some stills were released yesterday. It features a superhero-style animated Britney battling bad guys in Las Vegas. The style of anime is reminiscent of that “Aeon Flux” show that used to be on MTV’s “Liquid Television.” I’m not a fan of Britney’s repetitive video-game dance music, but this song isn’t bad.

It was reportedly Britney’s idea to use animation for the video and that was a wise move given her many image problems lately. She should just become an animated character permanently like Gorillaz, only venturing out as an alter ego of her cartoon self.

US Weekly has an interview with the creator of “How I Met Your Mother,” the CBS sitcom in which Britney Spears will appear in a cameo on March 24. What really surprised me is how arrogant Britney’s people came across when they said she wanted a role and how quickly the “How I Met Your Mother” staff worked to accommodate them. It’s unclear from the way this is worded whether the part existed before Britney’s people called and asked, but I got the impression it was written in just for her. Her people asked for a script to be sent 30 minutes after they called and said she was interested in a part, and the writers worked furiously to send it to her:

Tell Us how this all came about.
Britney’s people ended up coming to CBS and expressing interest in our show, and we were thrilled: ‘Britney Spears watches our show!’

They said she was a big fan of the show?
They said she was looking for a small part on a funny show, and she checked out our show and liked it. They were really receptive to the idea of bringing Britney in and just doing a funny role for her. It all came together really quickly – it was kind of shocking.

How quick?
We heard that they read about the part on Thursday. We were literally in the middle of a re-write of that script, and they said, ‘Oh, we’re having dinner with Britney tonight, and she likes the show. Can you get her a script a half-hour from now?’ So we just sort of busted ass for the next 40 minutes, hit print and showed her our in-progress rewrite of the episode. She got in and thought the character was really funny and said yes the very next day.

[From US Weekly]

“How I Met Your Mother” creator Craig Thomas said that Britney was relaxed and fun when they met with her to read the part and that she “seemed to fit right in” with the cast.

You can understand why they would work so hard to make sure a part was made for her, because people are going to watch this episode just for Britney, but it also comes off as a bit ridiculous. Couldn’t they have sent her the script re-write the next day or a few days later? Did they have to work that night to get it out just for Britney?

I know Britney is a big star and a huge draw and all, but do you think they would have worked to get the script out for anyone else other than maybe an a-list star? This is a pop singer who is known for not wearing underwear, losing custody of her children, and having public breakdowns. I wish her well and all, but she’s not an actress.

Britney will appear on the show as the secretary of a dermatologist that one of the characters, Ted, is interested in. Alicia Silverstone was set to guest star as the dermatologist and she bailed when she learned that Britney would appear. E! Online reports that Silverstone thought it would be “too chaotic” with Britney there. Silverstone will be replaced by Sarah Chalke from “Scrubs.”

When I first read a blurb about this yesterday on OK! Magazine I was so confused by the details I didn’t report it. Britney’s boyfriend Adnan, who she maybe broke up with after reading sexy texts on his phone from another woman, (although he was seen at her house a couple of days ago) supposedly had an affair. He was said to be cheating on Britney with the girlfriend of a guy who is a contestant on the Bravo Reality show “Make Me a Supermodel.” The news came out after he was photographed with the 20 year-old woman, who was suspiciously wearing one of the black “Ed Hardy” t-shirts that Adnan favors.

If that’s not bizarre enough, Adnan’s new squeeze called her boyfriend to tell him that there’s false media reports about her that are about to blow up, and their exchange was caught on tape for that “Make Me a Supermodel” show. It supposedly aired last night, so let me know if you saw it and if Adnan was specifically mentioned.

Britney’s dad Jamie is the first one to learn about the pictures of Adnan with this other woman. He was just starting to trust the guy and really blew up when he saw the photos, showing them to Britney. They just show Adnan smiling and standing with this woman, there’s no touching or kissing or anything from what’s in the Enquirer. Adnan looks like the cat who ate the canary, but he often looks like that. He is said to have slept over at this woman’s house five nights in a row, and that’s the damning part, not the photos:

Adnan - who has recently separated from his wife of four years - had just gained the trust of Britney’s father Jamie. But it was Jamie who heard about the cheating photos and instructed a personal assistant to track them down.

“Jamie told the assistant to tell Britney about Adnan. When Britney saw the pictures, she was furious,” said the insider. “She called calling Adnan ‘that cheating f-!’”

Amanda has been dating Perry Ullman, who’s in NY City competing in the Bravo TV reality show “Make Me a Supermodel.”

But Adnan slept at her house for five consecutive nights, according to an insider, who added: “They were hold up inside except for when he came outside for smoking breaks.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 17, 2008]

On Tuesday we ran a story about Adnan’s past as the doorman at a strip club in 2001. He used to take kickbacks and sexual favors from the strippers regularly, according to someone who worked with him at the time.

K-Fed’s then-girlfriend Shar Jackson was pregnant when Britney hooked up with him, so it’s not like she has halfway decent taste in men. Still, I thought Adnan was a cad but he seemed like he did care about Britney in his way. Maybe I was blinded by my attraction to him. He has this magnetism about him.

Fingers crossed that Britney is just gaining weight from having her medication and condition stabilized and that she’s not pregnant with this guy’s baby. She does have a suspicious-looking stomach, but it’s only from some angles. It seems like it’s from too much fast food and not a new life she’s bringing into the world.

Britney is shown shopping on 3/5/08. Adnan is shown with the other woman in a scan from The National Enquirer.

The National Enquirer’s “Britney Aborts Baby - Now Adnan Dumps Her!” cover story is not about how she supposedly aborted a baby recently. The title is misleading as the Enquirer claims inside that Britney aborted a baby in 2002 at the age of 20. While you may assume that it was Justin Timberlake’s baby, as she was dating him up until early 2002, The Enquirer says that she doesn’t know who the father was as she was partying and sleeping around before she supposedly got pregnant for the first time. Her family convinced her to have an abortion, this article asserts, and she was devastated by it and often thinks about what would have happened if she made the choice to have the baby. This sounds incredibly sad if it’s true:

Britney Spears’ devastating mental breakdown was triggered by a secret abortion, insiders have revealed exclusively to The Enquirer. The decision to terminate the pregnancy left her an emotional wreck, say sources.

Britney had the procedure after breaking up with Justin Timberlake in March 2002 - and became convinced she was “going to hell” for her actions, confide insiders. She has never psychologically recovered from that trauma…

On the rebound from Justin, Britney had sex with other men from her hometown and could not be sure who the father was, say the insiders. She was only 20 and was urged to abort for the sake of her singing career and maintaining her public image as a “virgin,” according to the sources.

But that fateful decision has haunted her for years and damaged her psychologically - propelling her to abuse drugs, rush into marriage, and desperately yearn to become a mom, say sources.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 17, 2008]

You feel for her, but it’s overblown to say that all her problems in life stem from an abortion she had. Plenty of women make a decision to terminate a pregnancy and while it’s a difficult choice they move on to lead fulfilling happy lives. It’s not like an abortion means that someone is going to be an emotional wreck for the rest of their lives, but I suppose I shouldn’t expect The Enquirer not to hype it and get all preachy.

Britney’s mom Lynne is also said to have encouraged her 16 year-old daughter, Jamie Lynn, to abort her pregnancy for the sake of her career. Jamie Lynn decided to carry the baby to term and is reportedly due in June.

If this story is true it means that both of the Spears girls got pregnant as young woman before they were married. In Britney’s case you’re more emotionally prepared to have a baby at 20 than at 16, but it’s still way too early. In terms of Britney’s many issues you probably can’t point to a single thing and say that it was all downhill from there, except maybe K-Fed. This is a girl who had a boob job as a teen and was forced to work 20-hour days when other kids her age were in high school. She also wore tiny outfits and was over-sexualized as a teen but was told to keep up the facade that she was a virgin. That’s got to mess you up emotionally over time. ‘

Here are some obviously older pictures of Britney performing, thanks to PRPhotos. Whether she’s pregnant or not now remains to be seen.

A judge has ruled that Jamie Spears’ conservatorship over his daughter, Britney, will be in effect for another four months, until July 31. The conservatorship can potentially be lifted before that time if Britney shows more progress. By most accounts she is doing well under her father’s guardianship. She has had multiple visits with her two toddler sons, something that may not have been possible if her father hadn’t stepped in to help.

Britney is also teaching dance classes to children at Millenium Dance Studio. Yesterday People had a cute story from one of her little students. A five-year-old girl in her class said “I like Britney. Today, first we were dancing slow, and then faster and faster … Then we did the fish-move and lots of other fun things.” The girl’s mom told People that Britney has inspired her daughter and that she was “amazing… with the kids.” What’s more is that Britney even gave a gift to the girl, a picture of Tinkerbell.

Nefarious character Sam Lutfi has vowed to fight the restraining order against him when it runs out on March 17 and vows to put Britney on the witness stand to attest how he was “helping” her. There are countless witnesses who can testify how he manipulated, controlled and verbally abused Britney. He may even be partially accountable for the way that she lost visitation rights with her boys. Yesterday we reported a story from In Touch in which Britney’s former assistant talked about how Sam tried to get to Britney through her, asking her to meet him at a Starbucks under the guise of having “incriminating evidence” against the star, which he was never able to produce. Sam had yet to meet Britney at that time. Britney’s one-time assistant was later shocked to see a picture of Sam with Britney, calling him a “creep” and “stalkerish.”

According to a source quoted in People, Britney is currently happy under her father’s care. She’s certainly doing better now, and she must appreciate being able to spend so much time with her boys.

Here is Britney out shopping yesterday, thanks to Splash and WENN. She does look pregnant from some angles, but that could just be a little weight gain. The National Enquirer is set to report that she aborted Adnan’s baby. We’ll have to see if they have any insider information or other evidence or if they’re just widely speculating.

Britney and Adnan on January 15
Britney’s paparazzo boyfriend Adnan Ghalib worked as a doorman and lap dance supervisor at a strip club in San Francisco in 2000, and one of the strippers who used to work with him told the National Enquirer that he was pocketing cash behind his employer’s backs and would sleep with anything that moved. Adnan would watch the girls give lap dances and worked out a deal with them so that they didn’t report their earnings to the club in return for giving him cash. What’s more is that he would sneak quickies with the strippers and supposedly slept with more than 10 women in a week. He was also supposedly addicted to crystal meth:

Ghalib worked as both a doorman and a “lap dance counter” at the Roaring 20’s club around the year 2000.

“Adnan was a shifty character. You needed to watch him 24/7, because he’d cheat you blind,” an ex-stripper at the club, who went by the stage name Trinity, told The Enquirer in an exclusive interview.

Ghalib, now 35, started out earning $9 an hour as the club doorman, but quickly worked his way up to “lap dance counter,” keeping track of strippers’ private lap dances for the club, according to Trinity.

Adnan found a way to make the job more lucrative for himself, said Trinity.

“Typically, the stripper and the club split the lap dance fee, which is usually $40. The more lap dances a stripper can do privately, the more money she and the club earn.

“And when Adnan saw how much money was changing hands, he wanted a piece of the action. He pressured girls into giving him cash kickbacks in return for not reporting some of their private dances.”

At other times, Ghalib demanded sexual favors instead of cash, according to Trinity and another source…

“His favorite place to have sex with the girls was the general manager’s office.

“The manager made a nightly money drop at the local bank - and Adnan knew the trip took about 15 minutes. Hed’ pull a girl in to the manager’s office and be out before the guy got back.

“As far as I know, Adnan still holds the club record for sleeping with 10 different strippers in a single week.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 10, 2008]

In an inset story underneath this article they state that Adnan quit his job in February, 2001, after he pistol-whipped a patron who was arguing with him. Adnan beat the shit out of the guy, and when he looked like he was reaching for something Adnan pulled out the gun and started smashing him in the face with it. It accidentally fired, and although no one was hurt or charged with anything, Adnan was questioned by police and that was enough to scare him into quitting the job.

It sounds like Britney found a real winner, although somehow Adnan is less creepy than that Sam Lutfi character who bragged about drugging her food. If Adnan is the type of person to work in a strip club, steal from his employers and demand sexual favors you know he’s plotting ways to get a hold of some of Britney’s fortune. He was even married when he hooked up with her.

Britney supposedly broke up with Adnan after discovering sexy text messages sent by another woman. She is said to have thrown his iPhone into the pool after demanding to know who sent the messages. Since this story originated in the British tabloid press, chances are high that it’s completely made up, but hopefully it’s true. Britney is also rumored to be pregnant with Adnan’s baby, but that seems like little more than speculation based on her recent weight gain.

Britney is shown on 2/29 outside Millenium Dance studio below and with Adnan on 1/15 in the header image, thanks to Splash.

So Britney has been showing a little pudge lately, like a very little, and most everyone attributed it to the positive effects of having her medication stabilized and having access to food that’s not chock full of pharmaceuticals. She has been dancing for exercise, and it’s thought that she’s been doing better and just gained some weight as a result of having things settle down for her.

Now Star Magazine is reporting that her boyfriend, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, is telling friends she’s pregnant with his baby. This would be the last thing Britney needs right now, and since the source is Star let’s hope they’re making this up based on moderate weight gain. This is Britney, though, and she’s not likely to take precautions or to even mind if she’s pregnant again despite the fact that she just got back visitation rights with her two boys. By some accounts she wants more children and has said that if she can’t see her kids she’ll just have another baby anyway:

Only weeks after Britney Spears drove to Rosarita Beach, Mexico to exchange marriage vows with Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo is bragging to friends that she is going to have his baby, Star has learned exclusively.

And what do you know! The fallen pop princess’ belly is starting to show a little bulge, in spite of hours of classes at the Millennium Dance Complex.

“Britney is Adnan’s dream come true. He knows that if he has a child with Brit, he’ll be made for life,” one friend of Adnan’s tells Star.

But while Adnan, 35, may be happy, Britney’s family is not. Dad Jamie has stabilized her life and the last thing he and her mom Lynne wants is another grandchild. “Her parents know she can’t handle more children,” says a Spears family source.

[From Star Magazine’s website]

Please don’t let this be true! We’ll have to wait it out, but if Britney is really pregnant she’ll need to go off some of her meds. It would also make her life much more complicated. This story is originating with Star Magazine, so take it for what it is.

A judge has rejected Britney’s civil rights challenge of her father’s conservatorship and sent it back to state court. The judge ruled that there’s no reason for it to be under federal jurisdiction and said that attorney hasn’t even proved that Britney hired him.

Here are photos of Britney out jeans shopping yesterday, thanks to Splash News. You can see her stomach and she doesn’t look pregnant.

Britney Spears saw her two boys twice in the past few days under a new visitation agreement. It was her first contact with them in over six weeks since her standoff with police and first hospitalization. Her father and psychiatrist were present for the first visit on Saturday, and she was able to spend some quality time with them again on Monday.

Britney is still trying to challenge her father’s conservatorship of her estate. Her lawyer, Jon Eardley, claims that Jamie’s ongoing supervision of her daily affairs has violated her civil rights. Eardley has moved the case to federal court, and Jamie’s lawyers have challenged this, saying that it’s not an issue that falls under federal jurisdiction, that Britney lacks the capacity to hire her own attorney, and that it’s obvious he’s under the thumb of Sam Lutfi. Jamie’s lawyers also are seeking to have their attorney’s fees of over $40,000 awarded for fighting this case.

In court papers available on TMZ, Jamie’s lawyers state that it’s clear that Britney’s lawyer is being influenced by Lutfi, who is now barred from any contact with Britney by restraining order. In a footnote they say that “Mr. Eardley’s [Britney’s lawyer’s] claim that Lynne Spears’ declaration is ‘perjured’ and his description of Mr. Lutfi as Britney’s ‘best friend’ speak volumes as to where Mr. Eardley’s allegiances apparently lie.”

Britney’s lawyer says that he needs more time to defend his case because he hasn’t been able to speak to his client in about two weeks. The phone number he had for her has been disconnected.

Britney is shown out on 2/23 at Mastro’s Restaurant with her father, Jamie, thanks to Splash. She was seen at Milennium Dance Studios again last night, and was said to have received a visit from Adnan Ghalib, the paparazzo she’s been seeing.