Medical IDs Stir Controversy

The government inched closer Monday to assigning every American a new health ID number for a national data bank to track medical histories from cradle to grave, reports CBS News Correpsondent Frank Currier.

"We need an identifer to ensure that information about us, as we are being cared for, can all be brought together in one place to help take better care of us at the time we're seeking care," said Dr. Chris Chute of the Mayo Foundation.

However, privacy advocates like Robert Gellman believe the health identifier will act like a social security number, permitting government to invade our lives.

"Social security numbers are used now by thieves to steal your identity and run up credit bills in your name," says Gellman. "I think the health identifier possibly would facilitate that same kind of activity and make it worse."

Perhaps better than a health identification number, some suggest using a biomedical marker such as a thumbprint or an electron scan of a part of the body. Even with these added safeguards, critics say, the information could still wind up in the wrong hands.

"A dedicated smart 14-year-old hacker, with access to the Internet I believe can find out medical information from medical databases on anyone in the United States today," says Dr. Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania ethicist.

With ethical hurdles remaining as bureaucrats take a go-slow approach, the controversy over a health ID number is sharpening. But for now, legislation aimed at protecting patient privacy remains stalled in Congress.

Reported by Frank Currier
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