FDA approves computer chip for humans
MSNBC - FDA approves computer chip for humans:
"Medical milestone or privacy invasion? A tiny computer chip approved Wednesday for implantation in a patient’s arm can speed vital information about a patient’s medical history to doctors and hospitals. But critics warn that it could open new ways to imperil the confidentiality of medical records.
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that Applied Digital Solutions of Delray Beach, Fla., could market the VeriChip, an implantable computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, for medical purposes."
posted by Allison Muri at 11:01 PM
1 Comments:
"The VeriChip itself contains no medical records, just codes that can be scanned, and revealed, in a doctor’s office or hospital. With that code, the health providers can unlock that portion of a secure database that holds that person’s medical information, including allergies and prior treatment. The electronic database, not the chip, would be updated with each medical visit."
Hmmm, sounds like a Health Card to me. Don't we already have those and aren't they already hooked up to a database? So, I guess the big thing with the chip is that you always have it on you, even if you forget your wallet at home or even if you are in a really bad car accident and you are unconscious. But there are already medical-alert bracelets, they carry the vital information needed in such cases, allergies, current medications. Plus, if the accident you are in is really that bad, then there is a chance that your arm might not be readily available to scan. And if you are unconscious, there would have to be something on you that informed medical help that you had an implant, like a bracelet...or a card in your wallet! We are going in circles. I guess a tattoo would work.
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