Privacy of a Doctor’s Patients Was Violated by Her Cyber-Stalking Ex-Husband
Healthcare and Public Health // New York, United States
A New York anesthesiologist found out that her physician husband had been reading her emails for seven years, while they separated, divorced, and battled over custody of their three children.
The snooping also jeopardized the confidentiality of her patients at Lutheran Hospital.
When Annabelle Zaratzian learned in 2010 of the cyberspying, she had been conducting a study at the hospital on the sometimes fatal pregnancy complication preeclampsia.
She notified Lutheran that the breached emails contained patient data. The study — and two years’ worth of effort — was promptly scrapped.
Zaratzian claims that when her now ex-husband Adel Abadir set up their Cablevision account in 2003, he secretly configured her email so that it would automatically forward every message to him.
Abadir maintains that he was sharing access with her consent — so that he would be privy to their kids’ sports schedules and they wouldn’t miss practices.
The pair separated in 2005. For the next five years, they fought in court over the divorce and their three kids.
Not until 2010, did Zaratzian discover that the whole time he had been reading her emails, and forwarding compromising information about her finances and romances to his lawyer.