Doctors may avoid celebrities after false name convictions
Source: Agencies |
October 31, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN US hospitals, medical offices and pharmacies, Anna Nicole Smith was routinely registered under pseudonyms to protect her privacy.
But in the wake of the convictions of her psychiatrist and lawyer-boyfriend for using false names on her drug prescriptions, the Hollywood medical community awoke to the realization on Friday that the practice might be off limits and some doctors could avoid treating celebrity clients rather than risk criminal charges.
"This is a shocker," criminal defense attorney Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities and doctors, said of Thursday's verdicts.
He said the convictions of Dr Khristine Eroshevich and Howard K. Stern for obtaining drug prescriptions for Smith under false names contradicts common practice.
"It's absolutely necessary for survival in Hollywood," he said, noting that in the age of celebrity gossip websites, information on star illnesses can be worth a lot of money.
Medical professionals use pseudonyms for celebrities to protect their privacy and until now no one was being prosecuted for doing it, he said.
"If it stands that keeping these people anonymous is a criminal act, a lot of doctors will have to refuse to take celebrity patients because they can't protect them," he said.
Smith, the late Playboy model and reality TV star, was known as Jane Brown, Susie Wong and Vickie Lynn Marshall, her true name. She was not the only star with a medical pseudonym.
Michael Jackson had several, although the doctor who pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in his death is not charged with using a false name to get him drugs. Performers such as Britney Spears and Mariah Carey also were known to use aliases when seeking medical care.
Attorney Ellyn Garofalo, whose client Dr Sandeep Kapoor was acquitted of all charges in the Smith case, said "these statutes involving use of fake names have never been enforced in this context."
If the convictions of Stern and Eroshevich stand, "this whole process of helping celebrities protect their privacy is in jeopardy. What physician in his right mind wants to take on a celebrity when they will get charged criminally," Garofalo said.
But in the wake of the convictions of her psychiatrist and lawyer-boyfriend for using false names on her drug prescriptions, the Hollywood medical community awoke to the realization on Friday that the practice might be off limits and some doctors could avoid treating celebrity clients rather than risk criminal charges.
"This is a shocker," criminal defense attorney Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities and doctors, said of Thursday's verdicts.
He said the convictions of Dr Khristine Eroshevich and Howard K. Stern for obtaining drug prescriptions for Smith under false names contradicts common practice.
"It's absolutely necessary for survival in Hollywood," he said, noting that in the age of celebrity gossip websites, information on star illnesses can be worth a lot of money.
Medical professionals use pseudonyms for celebrities to protect their privacy and until now no one was being prosecuted for doing it, he said.
"If it stands that keeping these people anonymous is a criminal act, a lot of doctors will have to refuse to take celebrity patients because they can't protect them," he said.
Smith, the late Playboy model and reality TV star, was known as Jane Brown, Susie Wong and Vickie Lynn Marshall, her true name. She was not the only star with a medical pseudonym.
Michael Jackson had several, although the doctor who pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in his death is not charged with using a false name to get him drugs. Performers such as Britney Spears and Mariah Carey also were known to use aliases when seeking medical care.
Attorney Ellyn Garofalo, whose client Dr Sandeep Kapoor was acquitted of all charges in the Smith case, said "these statutes involving use of fake names have never been enforced in this context."
If the convictions of Stern and Eroshevich stand, "this whole process of helping celebrities protect their privacy is in jeopardy. What physician in his right mind wants to take on a celebrity when they will get charged criminally," Garofalo said.
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