Health records lost, stolen or revealed online

Almost a decade after a new law went into effect to strengthen health privacy protections, the number of breaches of patient records and databases across the US suggests that personal health information is not as private or secure as many consumers might want or expect. Since fall 2009, more than 400 large health care breaches affecting at least 500 people and more than 50,000 smaller breaches have been reported to the federal government.