Hospital fined for violating octuplet mom privacy

LOS ANGELES (AP) " California health officials have fined a hospital where employees illegally accessed medical records for octuplet mother Nadya Suleman.

Kaiser Permanente spokesman Jim Anderson said Thursday the $250,000 fine was not expected after the hospital reported the privacy violations itself to the state and fired 15 workers in March.

Suleman, a single mother of 14, gave birth to her octuplets on Jan. 26 at Kaiser's hospital in Bellflower, about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The investigation into the privacy breach began in February, and Kaiser said it does not appear any of the information was leaked to the public.

Anderson says the state's report found that the hospital did not do enough to prevent the privacy breaches, though the hospital did warn workers to stay away from Suleman's files.