Abandoning the medical history of this...

Yesterday, I went to a location shoot at an old hospital in downtown Los Angeles.

The hospital had clearly been condemned at some point. The doors were locked down, windows were shattered or boarded up. Great location when all you need is the interior of a morgue.

The inside was reminiscent of the abandoned insane asylum in the movie "Session 9," and if you've seen that, you already have a feeling for creepy atmosphere. I was there during daylight though, so the creep factor was a little lower.

So, while hanging around in the guts of this dilapidated morgue, I stumbled upon something that's got me feeling queasy even a day later.

It wasn't the prosthetic bodies lined up on the morgue shelves playing dead bodies. It wasn't even the bloodied, burned prosthetic body parts the artists bring to life (or death) with makeup. And it wasn't the wall of freezers or anything else that might typically creep someone out in a morgue--even an out of order morgue.

It wasn't the little girl laughing or the doctor who are rumored to haunt the hospital ... unfortunately, I didn't get to meet them. It wasn't even the "isolation room" which had drawings of embryos, religious symbols and poetry on every available inch of the wall.

No. What I saw, which is still haunting me this morning, was something much more benign than any of that.

What I saw were medical records.

Not props.

REAL, abandoned medical records of REAL people. Piled high on shelves in a random room in this abandoned hospital--dating back to the 30s--easily accessible by anyone with clearance to be on the property.

Why should I care? Why should I be so affected? These weren't my medical records ... and yet ... I feel so violated by this injustice.

Because these individuals are dead, assuming they are since their records were in the morgue, does that mean their privacy is no longer something to protect?

What if these people aren't even dead? What if these records hold the key to someone's recovery ... or what if they could answer questions in a homicide investigation?

Just whose property are these records anyway? Who is responsible for abandoning them?

More importantly, what am I going to do about this...? I can't let it go!

Comments

[savannah]

You should contact the biggest News Station in town and have them go out there and do a big story...that will take care of it....relatives will start calling or other people just like you that care about privacy.
And the state or what ever private party that owned the hospital will be forced to destroy the records.

That is insane! But I believe it.
You here these stories all the time. I had at least two stories like that on TV in my town this year.

[Melissa]

Man, that is really messed up! I wonder why they did not either place them in storage or burn them when the morgue was closed? I am not sure who you would have to call about it...maybe you could call the state morgue and see if they can do anything about it. Good luck :-)

[CaitKit]

Call the police department? Or the City Attorney?

[Jennie]

Oh, my God: that is horrible and I agree that you should contact the State's Attorneys General's Office of whomever is in charge of the morgues. This is an atrocious breach of privacy for their heirs, and with DNA the way it is now, "John" or "Jane" Does may be able to be identified. Please post and let us know. Thank you.

Jennie

[Linda]

I have worked in the medical field for well over 20 years, this is bad. This is a clear violation of the HIPPA Act, if you can.. someone should be contacted within you local and state goverment. If not get the media involved.
Good luck and it is haunting to know this.
linda

[Meteko]

This is real bad. Best is to inform the relevant authority to clean up the mess. I will not want to be treat by this kind of hospital even if i were to be sick. They can't even keep their premises clean and tidy, can i trust them if i let them operate on my body?