LIFESTYLE OF THE SICK & FAMOUS

But often celebrities suspect that medical personnel or loved ones have been lured by money to share intimate details. In a celebrity-mad culture in which stars' medical problems have high news value and tabloids have deep pockets, the people's right to know about Swayze's pancreatic cancer or TomKat's baby sonogram or Clooney's injuries in a motorcycle accident trumps celebrities' right to keep their medical records private. Unsurprisingly, celebrities, their publicists and their lawyers are bitter, even though there's nothing new about this: Elizabeth Taylor's many medical crises have been tabloid fodder for decades. What's new now, they say, is the increased public appetite for any celebrity news, the increased competition to get that news and the cash some outlets wave to entice people."Every time you think the bar can't get any lower, it gets lower. It's beyond outrageous," says publicist Ken Sunshine. "This is way, way over the line and indefensible in a civilized society."

-ABC News
August 29 2008