Medical Identity Theft Can Threaten Health As Well As Bank Account

Anndorie Sachs had her life turned upside down when authorities showed up at her door in Salt Lake City and threatened to take her four children away - all because another woman had stolen her identity and given birth to a baby who tested positive for drugs.

When CBS News first reported her story back in 2006, it was estimated that 200,000 Americans each year were the victims of what is called medical identity theft, but in the years since, the problem has gotten dramatically worse. According to a recent report by the Ponemon Institute, an independent research organization specializing in privacy and security issues, the number of victims grew to 1.85 million in 2013 - a 19 percent jump from the year before.

"In the criminal world, medical identity theft is now the low-hanging fruit," says Ann Patterson, the program director of the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, which sponsored the Ponemon report.

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