Dozens of women claim in a new lawsuit they were secretly filmed at a California hospital when they were at their most vulnerable, including giving birth or undergoing surgery.

The motion-detector laptop cameras were installed on carts in gynecology department operating rooms in July 2012 at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif., in an attempt to catch drug thefts.

But the 81 patients who filed the class-action suit Friday say in court papers their privacy was invaded at the Women’s Health Center when they were filmed between July 2012 and June 2013 without their knowledge.

More than 15,000 videos were recorded by the cameras, according to the California Supreme Court complaint, which estimates around 1,800 women were filmed.

The recordings allegedly showed the women “undergoing operations of a very personal private nature, unconscious” and exposed, the suit said.

Sharp Healthcare said Monday in a statement they continue to protect patient privacy and “sincerely regret that our efforts to ensure medication security may have caused any distress.”

“The three cameras were installed and operated to ensure patient safety by identifying the person or persons responsible for the removal of the drugs,” the statement said. “Although the cameras were intended to record only individuals in front of the anesthesia carts removing drugs, others, including patients and medical personnel in the operating rooms, were at times visible to the cameras and recorded.”

A separate class-action lawsuit regarding the recordings was filed nearly three years ago and is pending. The new complaint names plaintiffs who have learned about the videos since December.