FDA Letter Raises Questions about VeriChip Safety, Data Security

[Guest guest]

Dear CASPIAN members and rs:

 

>>

>> As you may know, last week the FDA approved the VeriChip ID implant for

>> medical use in humans (along with a whole class of similar implants).

>>

>> While VeriChip promoters discuss only the " benefits " of chip

>> implantation, CASPIAN researchers have uncovered a host of serious

>> potential medical dangers associated with the VeriChip.

>>

>> We have outlined details in the press release below and in a special web

>> report at:

>>

>> http://www.spychips.com/reports/verichip-fda.html

>>

>> As I have discussed on NPR, CNN, NBC, and elsewhere in the last week,

>> the VeriChip is bad news for consumers, putting their health, privacy

>> and security at risk.

>>

>> Please read this material and share it with others.

>>

>> In freedom,

>> Katherine Albrecht, CASPIAN

>>

>> http://www.spychips.com

>> http://www.nocards.org

>> http://www.boycottGillette.com

>>

>> -----

>>

>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

>> 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).

>>

>> CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering)

>> 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. "

>>

>> Albrecht cites 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. "

>>

>> " Patients contemplating a VeriChip implant need to know that the FDA has

>> raised MRI 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. "

>>

>> 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 transmissions could be intercepted

>> and duplicated by others or that the devices could be used to track an

>> individual's movements and location.

>>

>> " 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). " 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 also plans to contact the

>> Digital Angel Corporation, manufacturer of the VeriChip; VeriChip, the

>> technology licensee; and VeriChip's parent company, Applied Digital.

>>

>> =====================================================================

>>

>> CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering)

>> 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

>>

>> You're welcome to duplicate and distribute this message to others who

>> may find it of interest.

>