A major New York hospital is in trouble over its handling of the Plaxico Burress shooting case.

The Giants wide receiver shot himself at a nightclub, then went to the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell emergency department. Staff there said he was seen under an assumed name, and for some reason, did not report the shooting immediately to police.

Misinterpretation of the HIPAA privacy laws impeded the investigation, as “a hospital administrator initially declined to give information to the detectives from the 17th Precinct, citing federal privacy statutes.”

If this New York Post report is true (via GruntDoc), then the situation will get worse for the emergency staff who allegedly, “recognized Burress and agreed not to report the incident to police.”

topics: hipaa, police