Depending on the state, province, or country you are, every time you are hospitalized you get a paper (or plastic) bracelet on your wrist. The bracelet is used to identify the patients, but it also contains some personal info, such as name and birth date.
Unfortunately, after getting discharged, most of the patients throw the bracelets in the garbage boxes outside their hospital rooms. What usually happens is that drug addicts go through hospitals, and – pretending they are visitors - look specifically for these bracelets in the garbage.
Then they go to a medical clinic with a minor ailment and get a prescription for medicine. Next, go home, use wipeout to delete their name, the name of the medicine, and the doctor’s signature, and photocopy the blank prescription form several times. Addicts then write your name and your hospitalization number on it, and add the name of the drug they really want – eg: Ridalin. They successfully present these prescriptions at several different drugstores, which are able to check the hospitalization number.
How to avoid: always shred everything that has your personal information on it, including these insignificant-looking bracelets.