While its important to prevent theft in hospitals, its also just as important to protect patients privacy while doing so. One facilitys attempt to stop a thief using hidden cameras in the operating room has now landed it in hot water. Camera surveillance is a common way to fight against theft in retail establishments, but putting cameras in hospitals can create significant legal issues especially if patients dont know theyre being filmed while theyre receiving treatment.At Sharp Grossmont Hospital in California, medications were going missing from operating rooms in its womens health center, where women underwent C-sections, hysterectomies and other reproductive surgeries, according to an article in the Washington Post.To catch the thief, the facility installed monitors with motion-sensing cameras in three ORs. The cameras were only supposed to capture video of the area just surrounding the anesthesia carts. However, the cameras also recorded patients during their procedures, along with other clinical staff.Women were inadvertently filmed in vulnerable positions in some cases, unconscious and partially undressed during surgery. Occasionally, their faces and genital areas were visible. Even worse, the images were stored on computers that could be accessed by anyone on staff without requiring a user name or password.

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