October 14, 2004
FDA Approves Subdermal RFID VeriChip
Applied Digital, the company that manufactures the subdermal RFID chip VeriChip, says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved injecting humans with the tracking device for medical purposes. In Mexico, the practice is already well underway, with more than 1,000 patients chipped while Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha and 160 of his employees were tagged with the subdermal RFID chip more than two months ago. While privacy is clearly a concern, it should be noted that the chip approved by the FDA will not contain detailed medical data, but rather simply the patient's identity, blood type, and details of their current condition.
According to silicon.com:
The company is targeting the devices at patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other conditions requiring complex treatment. [...]
So far, no hospitals in the United States have placed orders for the chips, an Applied Digital representative said. So the company is planning to give away scanners, which cost $650 a piece, to 200 trauma centres around the country to jump-start the market.
Read more: RFID chips in humans get green light
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