What do you do along with your empty prescription bottles? What about all the medical data you obtain, resembling your rationalization of advantages? Being careless along with your private medical data could be harmful, and the theft of this priceless knowledge could be lethal.Roughly 1.5 million People are victims of medical identification theft every year, against the law that prices the nation $41.three billion yearly. Prescription fraud is a rising type of medical identification theft that isn’t solely extraordinarily pricey and time-consuming; it may possibly additionally put your well being in danger and even be life-threatening. Sadly, medical identification theft is not generally identified by many People, and sometimes is not detected till it is too late. After we do not take precautions to stop prescription fraud and different types of medical identification theft, we put ourselves in jeopardy of changing into one other sufferer.What’s Prescription Fraud?Prescription fraud happens when identification thieves use your private data to fill prescriptions in your title. They use your medical identification to obtain medical remedy at hospitals and docs’ places of work, acquire medicines, and entry different healthcare companies.Prescription fraud does not simply depart you with an enormous bill-it can doubtlessly put your well being in danger as effectively. You could discover that false data has been added to your private well being report, resembling a change in blood kind or supposed allergy symptoms. Each medical process acquired and prescription stuffed by the identification thief turns into a part of your medical historical past, which suggests it’s possible you’ll not have the ability to acquire the life-saving remedy you want in an emergency medical state of affairs.Detecting and resolving medical identification theft could be tough as effectively. You could not uncover that you are a sufferer till a pharmacy refuses to fill a prescription as a result of it conflicts with one other remedy you look like taking. To make issues worse, fixing errors in your report could be very difficult as a consequence of medical privateness legal guidelines. Satirically, the identical legal guidelines that had been applied to guard your privateness and well being data at the moment are defending the medical identification thief. This restricted entry to medical information prolongs the period of the theft, costing you numerous time, cash, and frustration.How one can Stop Prescription FraudOne of the simplest methods to keep away from this kind of medical identification theft is solely to concentrate on what you throw within the trash. Prescription remedy labels carry such delicate data as your full title and deal with, the prescribing doctor, the kind of remedy, prescription quantity, and the pharmacy’s contact information-all of the issues a thief must carry out prescription fraud. As a substitute of throwing empty prescription bottles within the trash, together with the drug data kinds, take away the labels and shred them. Different methods to stop prescription fraud:• Evaluate each rationalization of advantages (EOB). Look at the costs for medical visits or prescriptions you did not obtain, and report any suspicious exercise instantly.• By no means merely toss medical data within the trash. Dumpster divers can simply entry your private data for those who fail to shred the paperwork.• Safe medical information. Hold your medical information in a protected place inside your own home or in a protected deposit field, away from the prying eyes of holiday makers. Consider it or not, buddies and kin who’ve easy accessibility to your private data are sometimes the culprits.• Safeguard prescription bottles. Conceal or lock-up your remedy fairly than leaving it in plain sight or in a medication cupboard. This can stop anybody from strolling off along with your prescription remedy and, later, your identification.• Handle written prescription slips. Do not throw them away or depart them out the place they are often stolen. These slips are all an identification thief must fill a prescription in your title, depart you with out your remedy, steal your medical identification, and even put your life at risk.• Enlist the assistance of an identification theft safety service resembling ID Theft Options, which may proactively assist stop medical identification theft and even restore your identification when it is stolen.Defending your identification is an ongoing course of that takes vigilance. By taking some widespread sense precautions, you may keep away from the exorbitant prices and well being dangers of medical identification theft.