Is this the future?

**gae** · October 14th, 2004, 10:17 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) - 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.

The news pleased investors. On Wednesday, Applied Digital shares were up $1.45, or 68.4 percent, at $3.57 on the Nasdaq Stock Market - near the middle of their 52-week range of $1.94 to $5.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches. Silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Source

Comments?

**Fallyn Angel** · October 14th, 2004, 11:50 AM

Post yours first. You and Trav kill me posting articles but not how you feel on articles. Gives us your opinion instead of a copy and paste opinion.

**travelinman** · October 14th, 2004, 01:14 PM

Originally posted by Jigsaw Jr.:
Post yours first. You and Trav kill me posting articles but not how you feel on articles. Gives us your opinion instead of a copy and paste opinion.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I would think you already know.

After all were the big, bad, mean fascists on this board.

Or so we keep being told.

**cincygreg** · October 14th, 2004, 02:43 PM

Bar Codes for humans. The future is now.

Does sound kind of orwellian though, doesnt it?

**gae** · October 14th, 2004, 08:53 PM

Indeed it does, Greg. Wanna join me for the neck tatoo?

Raven, I'm not sure how I feel about it. (And I didn't post my ramblings this morning because I had to take Ratti to the doc to have her mittens removed.)

So far, I'm fortunate enough to not have serious physical ailments. I have no known allergies to meds, so such a chip would be completely unnecessary for me. (Unless, of course, it could restore sanity. And then I'd be all for it.)

However, Trav is allegic to injected iodine, and Erin is allergic to... something. She knows what it is; offhand, I can't remember. AH! Phenegren.

So maybe for them, it would be a good thing. I don't know. In an emergency situation, would it be necessary to use either one? Again, I don't know.

I wonder about the cost involved with all medical practioners being able to read such a chip. Since Trav is often out of the country, would a chip do him any good in Indonesia, Mexico or Brazil? I think not.

I'm currently in the middle of a book entitled <u>The Great Influenza</u>. It contains a bit more science than I can quickly absorb, but it has made me realize that 100 short years ago, most "doctors" disbelieved the emerging science. Maybe in another 100 years we'll all be implanted with chips at birth. I don't know.

I do know that at 50, with more of my life behind me than ahead of me, I'm just not comfortable with a lot the "advancements". I don't want a GPS chip implanted under my skin on the off chance that some maniac might kidnap me. (But, I'll be honest here; when my children were small, I might have entertained the idea.)

The fact of the matter is that we as humans die. Sometimes peacefully, sometimes tragically. I'm very greatful for modern medicine. Without antibiotics I wouldn't be here. Neither would Erin. Probably many of you are in the same boat.

But we aren't supposed to live forever. How have we come to believe that we are entitled to a life without pain? And why, oh why, do we hold the medical community to such a high standard?