From: [email protected]
Subject: FDA Letter Raises Questions about VeriChip Safety, Data Security
Date: October 19, 2004 7:52:43 AM CDT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(((A Toxic Cloud of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt!)))
October 19, 2004
FDA LETTER RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT VERICHIP SAFETY, DATA SECURITY
Implantable RFID device "poses potential risks to health"
Electrical hazards, MRI incompatibility, adverse tissue reaction, and
migration of the implanted transponder are just a few of the potential risks associated with the Verichip ID implant device, according to an October 12, 2004 letter issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
(((Don't lookah me! I'm just little Katie! Look at
the FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION over there,
stirring from its restful torpor! They are huge
and authoritative, and here they come to get
you, Mr Bibby.)))
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) (((I salute the greatness of this acronym)))
has obtained a copy of the letter and posted it on the group's RFID
website at http://www.spychips.com/reports/verichip-fda.html.
"For a device purported to help patients, the VeriChip has serious
medical downsides," said Katherine Albrecht, Founder and Director of CASPIAN. "By omitting this information from their press material, the companies marketing the VeriChip have painted an inaccurately rosy picture of their product that could mislead consumers into believing the devices are completely safe."
(((Not only is she Founding and Directing, she is
perfectly capable of Revealing, Confounding,
Damaging, Adbusting, and Wrecking Market
Cap in a Toxic Cloud of Federally Assisted FUD.)))
Albrecht cites (((nice use of the third person there))) MRI incompatibility as perhaps the most serious issue. An MRI machine uses powerful magnetic fields coupled with pulsed radio
frequency (RF) fields. According to the FDA's Primer on Medical Device Interactions with Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems, "electrical currents may be induced in conductive metal implants" that can cause "potentially severe patient burns."
(((Hey wait a minute... that's RIGHT! If I step into
a GIANT MAGNETOMETER with a piece of
ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE HARDWARE
embedded in my flesh, that is gonna sting!
Why didn't I think of anything so elementary?
Could it be that I was fantastically eager
to rush to market?))
"Patients contemplating a VeriChip implant need to know that the FDA has raised incompatibity as a potential risk," she said. "If it's a choice between a potentially life-saving diagnostic procedure or a VeriChip implant, I believe most patients would choose the MRI."
(((This is the advantage of a loyal opposition.
Katherine probably just saved the industry
millions in medical lawsuits. The paranoid grannies
who want to run around with foreign objects
embedded in their flesh, thinking that this
brings them better health services, are exactly
the kind of people most likely to sue the
living hell out of Verichip as soon as their
flesh starts burning around the implant.)))
In addition to outlining a number of health risks, the FDA letter also
cites the risk of "compromised information security" among its concerns.
The VeriChip ID implant, about the size of a grain of rice, uses radio
waves to transmit medical and financial account information to reader devices. There is a risk that these transmission could be intercepted and duplicated by others or that the devices could be used to track an individual's movements and location.
(((Gosh, that's right! I can set up an arphid reader
right outside my hacker lair and read the medical
histories of anybody passing on the sidewalk!
"Hey Lady! Tough break about the breast cancer!")))
"Once you're chipped, you can be identified by doorway portal readers without your knowledge," says Albrecht, referring to a VeriChip reader sold by value added resellers such as FindMe, LLC
(http://www.findmellc.com/verichip_portal.asp).
(((Just in case you were having trouble shoplifting
one, you malefactors, you.)))
"That tracking potential, coupled with VeriChip's potential health risks make the VeriChip a very poor choice for medical patients seeking safety and security."
Albrecht said her group will be contacting the FDA to get more specifics about the dangers outlined in its letter. (((She's deigning to talk to the government!)))) She also plans to contact the
Digital Angel Corporation, manufacturer of the VeriChip; VeriChip, the technology licensee; and VeriChip's parent company, Applied Digital. (((And she'll bring her camera!)))
==============================
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their privacy and to encourage privacy-conscious
shopping habits across the retail spectrum.
For more information, see:
http://www.spychips.com and http://www.nocards.org
Katherine Albecht, CASPIAN Founder and Director: (877) 287-5854
Liz McIntyre, CASPIAN Communications: (877) 287-5854
==============================
(((Boy was that satisfying! I am such a fan.)))
