One hundred and forty three million pounds of beef was put on hold at the end of January as the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided what to do about it. In the end, they recalled it. That’s not before countless numbers of Americans were already exposed to the potentially harmful meat, however, in the form of hamburgers, sloppy joes and school lunches.

While it is true that identity theft can be fixed, and the subsequent credit or financial damages repaired, the same may not be said for medical information.