THE NEED FOR SPECIFIC LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT IN NIGERIA

Medical identity theft (MIT) is a sensitive subject that concerns patients, potential patients, health insurance companies, health care providers, the general populace and governments. The concern has been heightened by the growing emphasis on privacy and security of electronic health information and the need to develop measures to protect them. Identity is a set of behavioural or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognized. It is also a collection of defining attributes that differentiates one individual from another. Traditionally, identity is used in relation to a person’s name. Now, however, the scope of this term has been broadened to include bank, credit card and social security numbers. With the advances in technology, identity may now also cover personal identification number (PIN), computer usernames, passwords, email addresses, fingerprints, iris and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Theft is the act or crime of stealing. Identity theft is the fraudulent appropriation and use of someone’s identifying or personal data or documents. It is the unlawful use of someone else’s personal identifying information in order to get money or credit or benefit. Identity connotes an individual’s name. The overall aim of this work is to elucidate on the subject matter, stimulate the needed integrated legal and institutional measures to address the life important issue of medical identity theft and to generate future research in this obscure but dangerous emerging trend, especially in developing countries. Doctrinal method was utilised for this research.