Woman Sues Chicago Doctor, Hospital For Posting Photos Of Her Drunk In ER To Facebook

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 6, 2013 10:20PM

An aspiring actress/model who was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in June after a night of binge drinking is suing the hospital and the doctor who treated her after the doctor took photos of her without consent and posted them on social media. This is a tale of warning regarding whom one should friend on Facebook.

Elena Chernyakova, 23, is seeking $1.5 million in damages from the hospital, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Dr. Vinaya Puppala. Chernyakova was admitted to Northwestern Memorial June 13 for drinking too much alcohol when she and a friend called Puppala, who is currently in the middle of a fellowship at Feinberg. Chernyakova and Puppala were in each other’s Facebook network but had never met in person until the that night and Chernyakova claimed to have called Puppala because she was scared.

Puppala, who was on duty, is alleged to have taken photos of Chernyakova passed out with an IV in her arm and posted them to his Facebook and Instagram accounts. One post read, “Cuvee #bottle #service #gone #bad.” Another post from Puppala allegedly invited friends for rooftop cocktails across the street from the hospital while Chernyakova recovered from “alcohol poisoning.”

The suit also alleges Puppala ignored a request by a hospital security guard to delete the photos (the photos have been sealed from public view via a court order) and took the invasion of privacy a step further by accessing Chernyakova’s medical records. A letter from the hospital confirms Puppala accessed Chernyakova’s records.

It will be easy for some to claim Chernyakova either had this coming to her for binge drinking but that would lose sight of Puppala’s alleged misdeeds. Doctor-client privilege is sacrosanct. If Puppala is guilty of these crimes he shouldn’t be able to find work as a mob doctor.