Medical Implants

[Catsmeow]

Under-the-skin ID chips move toward U.S. hospitals
By Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: July 27, 2004, 12:47 PM PT

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VeriChip, the company that makes radio frequency identification--RFID--tags for humans, has moved one step closer to getting its technology into hospitals. The Federal Drug Administration issued a ruling Tuesday that essentially begins a final review process that will determine whether hospitals can use RFID systems from the Palm Beach, Fla.-based company to identify patients and/or permit relevant hospital staff to access medical records, said Angela Fulcher, vice president of marketing and sales at VeriChip.

VeriChip sells 11-millimeter RFID tags that get implanted in the fatty tissue below the right tricep. When near one of Verichip's scanners, the chip wakes up and radios an ID number to the scanner. If the number matches an ID number in a database, a person with the chip under his or her skin can enter a secured room or complete a financial transaction.

"It is used instead of other biometric applications," such as fingerprints, Fulcher said.

The approval process does not center on health risks or implications, Fulcher said. VeriChip can already sell implantable RFID chips in the United States for standard security applications and the financial market. The company's basic technology has also been used in animals for years.

Instead, the FDA may mostly examine privacy issues, Fulcher indicated. In other words, the agency will look at whether the technology will lead to situations where confidential information can get improperly disclosed.

Technically, the FDA on Tuesday issued a letter stating that there were no equivalent products on the market. This allowed VeriChip to then seek a de novo, or additional, review. The application process started in October 2003.

The Italian Ministry of Health kicked off a six-month trial of the chips for hospitals in April.

VeriChip, a division of Applied Digital Solutions, generated headlines worldwide recently with the announcement that the Attorney General of Mexico implanted one of the small company's RFID tags in his arm.

Fulcher said the basic technology has been around for a while. For 15 years, Digital Angel, a sister company under the Applied corporate umbrella, has sold thousands of tags for identifying animals. The U.S. Department of Energy employs Digital Angel's technology to monitor salmon migration. Several implants have been placed in household pets and livestock.

"We believe the tags can last 20 years," Fulcher said.

The idea for employing the tags to identify humans came after the horror of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Fulcher said. Richard Seelig, vice president of medical applications at Applied, saw on TV how firemen were writing their badge numbers on their arm with pen so they could be identified in the event of a disaster.

He inserted Digital Angel tags in his body and told the CEO that they worked. VeriChip was born. In June, the company hired Next Level and Motorola alum Kevin Wiley as CEO.

About 7,000 VeriChip tags have been sold, and approximately 1,000 have been inserted in humans. The chips only work with VeriChip's scanners. Along with scanners, VeriChip also sells complementary security systems for opening or shutting doors after the identification process.

So far, most of the sales have been outside the United States. Along with its attorney general's implant, Mexico has evaluated the chips as a way to better identify children in the event of a kidnapping. The Baja Beach Club in Spain has used them as electronic wallets to buy drinks. Sales have also taken place in Russia, Switzerland, Venezuela and Colombia.

"The applications that have taken hold at this point have been international so far," Fulcher said.

But FN Manufacturing, a South Carolina gun maker, is evaluating the technology for "smart guns," which contain sensor-activated grips so that only their owners can fire them.

The chips themselves are inserted into humans and animals with a syringe. When emerging from the syringe, the chips get coated with a substance called BioBond, which insulates the chip from the body and allows it to adhere to local tissue. If removed, it becomes inactive.

Privacy has been an issue for the company, but the complaints have actually begun to die down. "The pushback is less and less," Fulcher said.

The chip is an ID tag, Fulcher emphasized. When a person with an embedded chip passes near a scanner, the dormant chip simply wakes up and issues an ID number. The administrator of the security systems and databases determines how the information is used. A person has to stand within a few feet of a scanner for the tag to wake up. Thus, the tags can be used to follow someone's steps only when they are near scanners. The company's hand scanners can ping chips about 12 inches away, although the devices for counting salmon are 10 to 12 feet away from the fish.

Also, VeriChip is working on an implant that will contain a Global Positioning System. Such a device would allow an individual with a scanner to pinpoint someone's position on the globe.

The lab device, however, is relatively large right now, about the size of a pacemaker.

[Anne]

Thanks Cats, this is a subject of interest for me.

Your Sister in Jesus Christ

Anne

[Catsmeow]

The reason I even posted this is because I was listening to Fox News yesterday and the man being interviewed on the show was talking about "new technology" for seniors, INCLUDING implantable microchips which contained their medical information.

Sometimes I feel alone in my concern about this issue. I just remember the warning given in scripture that anyone who takes this mark will be damned; all who are on the earth will be forced to take this mark in order to conduct normal business.

[apothanein kerdos]

The reason I even posted this is because I was listening to Fox News yesterday and the man being interviewed on the show was talking about "new technology" for seniors, INCLUDING implantable microchips which contained their medical information.

Sometimes I feel alone in my concern about this issue. I just remember the warning given in scripture that anyone who takes this mark will be damned; all who are on the earth will be forced to take this mark in order to conduct normal business.

The mark is actually more symbolic than it is literal. I'm not doubting that it could be literal, but the symbolism would have to exist prior to the physical object, i.e. there would have to be an antichrist and we would have to be in the tribulation.

[Wendie]

The mark is actually more symbolic than it is literal. I'm not doubting that it could be literal, but the symbolism would have to exist prior to the physical object, i.e. there would have to be an antichrist and we would have to be in the tribulation.

[apothanein kerdos]

The mark is actually more symbolic than it is literal. I'm not doubting that it could be literal, but the symbolism would have to exist prior to the physical object, i.e. there would have to be an antichrist and we would have to be in the tribulation.

What do you mean by symbolic than it is literal ??? So they wouldnt have to literaly chip you ?? Explain . ...........

I just think that the chip does have a good posiblty of being the mark . And we dont know who the anti-christ is right now , or even if he is alive . I'm in no way saying that he couldnt be alive .

[irishcowboy]

The mark is actually more symbolic than it is literal. I'm not doubting that it could be literal, but the symbolism would have to exist prior to the physical object, i.e. there would have to be an antichrist and we would have to be in the tribulation.

What do you mean by symbolic than it is literal ??? So they wouldnt have to literaly chip you ?? Explain . ...........

I just think that the chip does have a good posiblty of being the mark . And we dont know who the anti-christ is right now , or even if he is alive . I'm in no way saying that he couldnt be alive .

[apothanein kerdos]

how can a thing that is symbolic be used to buy and sell, this would sound that it would be more literal then symbolic.

That's why I refuse to to believe it has to be JUST literal or JUST symbolic. I wouldn't be suprised if it wasn't physical, but even if it is physical it would have to have the meaning behind it of servanthood and thought. In other words, a person who took the mark would be completely sold out to the anti christ.

[irishcowboy]

how can a thing that is symbolic be used to buy and sell, this would sound that it would be more literal then symbolic.

That's why I refuse to to believe it has to be JUST literal or JUST symbolic. I wouldn't be suprised if it wasn't physical, but even if it is physical it would have to have the meaning behind it of servanthood and thought. In other words, a person who took the mark would be completely sold out to the anti christ.

ummm if you do not already know, those that do not have Christ as their Lord and Savior, are already sould out to satan.......

there are people that already have this chip in them..... I hope for their sake I am wrong, for the sake of their souls.

If the mark is not a physical thing. then how can it be required to buy or sell? i am buying and selling now with out it, but later if it is not physical, how will that stop buying and selling ?????

it is both, LITERAL AND SYMBOLIC......

a man dies and well, he is escorted to this field and he looks straight ahead and sees a vast field in front of him and behind him, to his right there is a fence and on the other side is a bunch of people cursing and fighting and just totally angry towards each other..... he is glad that he is not with that bunch of people.... to his left there is another fence, and on that side is a bunch of people singing, laughing and enjoying themselves.... he thinks about them as he did on earth, about them being fanatics.... he thinks he is very happy right where he is at......

pretty soon he hears a great ruckus to his right, and he looks over and there are abunch of demons, prodding and poking these people, driving them into a great pit...... oh how thankful he was not in that field....

then he hears cheering and rejoicing and shouts of glee... to his left, and he looks and there is Christ leading those up a stair case going towards the clouds.... he is content.....

he hears a noise, and he turns around and there is satan himself, telling him he is to go with him.... the man says, i was not a bad man, i did good, i gave to the poor, i did this and that, i never broke any laws... was good to my fellow man...... worked in the soup lines andgave money to many charities...... I did not worship you or follow you.... I want to go with that Jesus guy over there.......

satan replys, too bac, you had your chance, you see, if you are not for Jesus, you are with me, by not choosing Christ, you have chose me by default......

even if we do not have Christ, and do not do "bad"things, we are with the devil.....

so the argument that if a person takes the mark and is just not sold out to satan is bogus, Christ said, if you are not for me you are against me....... and also said that the only way to God the Father is thru His Son......

to me there is only one choice to make either you are for Christ, or against Him...... dont let people twist the Word of God for you and tell you that God wont send a good person to hell..... for they are right....

God will not send a "good"person to hell...... but show me one person that is "good" and i will show you the one person that laid Himself down on the cross to be the payment for you sins... and my sins and everyone elses sins....

there is only one that is good, Christ Himself said it..... just one, and that is the Father......

mike