Three fired, two suspended at UIHC over football player medical records

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics will fire three employees and suspend two for five days without pay after they inappropriately accessed the medical records of some University of Iowa football players, officials said today.

The differing punishments are due to “varying levels of severity” in violating patient privacy policies, UI Spokesman Tom Moore said.

Moore declined to name the disciplined employees or say what their positions are at the hospital, citing personnel confidentiality.

It's unknown if the employees shared the medical information with people outside of the hospital, and Moore said that doesn't really matter.

“It was the initial violation in accessing the records inappropriately that matters,” he said.

Not all of the 13 UI football players who were hospitalized last week had their medical records accessed inappropriately, Moore said, but he would not say how many players did have their records accessed, citing privacy laws. All of the 13 players were updated Wednesday about if their records were or were not accessed, Moore said. The UI investigation into the incident is closed, he said.

The football players were hospitalized last week for rhabdomyolysis, an acute breakdown of muscle fibers that results in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream and can cause kidney damage.

UI officials are investigating what caused the players to become ill. University President Sally Mason today said she will meet Friday with four people who, along with Mason, will conduct the root-cause analysis into the incident.

Mason told The Gazette she did not want to release the names of the four people involved with the investigation until after her first meeting with the group Friday. But she said the four include a physiologist, a member of the UI's Presidential Committee on Athletics and a Faculty Senate leader.

“Nobody from athletics or associated with athletics is involved” in the analysis, Mason said.

A report will be made to the regents within 90 days.