People: They were just paging Dr. Ross
More than two dozen New Jersey hospital staffers have been suspended for four weeks for allegedly peeking at George Clooney‘s confidential medical information after he was hurt in a motorcycle accident last month.
Clooney, 46, suffered a broken rib and scrapes in the Sept. 21 crash, while his passenger, Sarah Larson, 28, injured her foot.
Both were treated at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, N.J.
No physicians employed by the hospital were among the 27 employees suspended, a hospital spokeswoman said.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Clooney said in a statement. “And while I very much believe in a patient’s right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers.”
A spokeswoman for the union representing some of the workers said as many as seven of the employees may have been authorized to view the records.
Federal law mandates that only direct caregivers – including doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff involved in a patient’s care – see such information.
His sentence: 24 times two
Kiefer Sutherland will spend 48 days in jail after pleading no contest to drunken driving.
The Emmy-winning “24” star will serve 30 days for driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit last month, as well as 18 days for violating his probation from a 2004 drunken driving case.
He will not be eligible for early release.
Sutherland will start doing time on Dec. 21, when “24” begins its winter production break.
Rolling ‘Blackout’ forward
Britney Spears‘ comeback album, “Blackout,” will be released on Oct. 30, two weeks earlier than planned, because of online leaks.
That’s five days after Spears is scheduled to appear in court on charges of hit-and-run and driving without a valid license, and four days after the next hearing in her child custody case.
Houston, we have an infarction
Singer Bobby Brown was hospitalized overnight after suffering a mild heart attack attributed to stress and diet.
Brown, the former husband of singer Whitney Houston, is seeking custody of their teenage daughter.
Legally unbonded
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe‘s divorce has been finalized.
Witherspoon, 31, and Phillippe, 33, co-starred in the 1999 movie “Cruel Intentions” and were married that year. They have two children.
Red, white and blue = green
Finally, the American flag from the back of the jacket worn by Peter Fonda in “Easy Rider” sold for $89,625 over the weekend at an auction of memorabilia from the 1969 film.
The birthday bunch
Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) is 58. Actor David Morse (“St. Elsewhere”) is 54. Actress Joan Cusack is 45. Actor-writer Michael J. Nelson (“Mystery Science Theater 3000”) is 43. Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 42. Actor Luke Perry is 41. Actor Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”) is 39. Actress Michelle Trachtenberg (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is 22.