ESPN's Adam Schefter, as per usual, was the first to report on Wednesday afternoon that New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul had already undergone or was in the process of undergoing surgery to amputate a finger in the wake of an injury the franchise-tagged defensive end sustained while allegedly setting off fireworks during a Fourth of July celebration with his family in Florida.
While the loss of a digit is, no doubt, a heavy price for Pierre-Paul, it seems Schefter's decision to publish JPP's medical records as part of his report could prove just as costly - though quite possibly not for Schefter or ESPN.
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk reportedly shortly after Schefter's revelation, that legal action could be taken by Pierre-Paul and his camp against whoever leaked the document to ESPN.
"Per source with knowledge of the situation, a lawsuit is indeed possible for the leaking of Jason Pierre-Paul's medical records," Florio tweeted.
Florio added to the tweet shortly thereafter via a report of his own, amending the notion of a potential lawsuit from a possibility to a likelihood.
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, it's likely that legal action will be taken against the person who leaked the document to ESPN," Florio reports.
"The investigation will begin with the hospital that generated the records. While some have cited HIPAA as the basis for a lawsuit against the hospital, HIPAA does not permit a private legal action for the violation of its terms. Instead, any claims against the hospital would be made under Florida privacy laws. Over the years, large verdicts have been awarded against health-care providers that released private patient information."
Per Florio, JPP is likely to be "urged" by those close to him to file a lawsuit.
While ESPN and Schefter may escape from the ordeal unscathed, as Florio notes, potential lawsuits such as this tend to pull in any and all persons whose fingerprints may, even partially, be on a given case.
