> The Fool <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<<http://www.rednova.com/news/health/196561/health_chips_could_help_patients_in_us/>>
>
> 'Health Chips' Could Help Patients in US
> Jul. 31--President Bush's former health secretary
> Tommy Thompson is
> putting the final touches to a plan that could
> result in US citizens
> having a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip
> inserted under their skin, The Business has learned.
>
> The RFID capsules would be linked to a computerised
> database being
> created by the US Department of Health to store and
> manage the nation's
> health records. It could be the precursor to a
> similar scheme in the UK.
<snip>
> VeriChip spokesman John Procter says around 98,000
> people die
> needlessly in the US every year after being given
> inappropriate
> treatment because their medical history was not
> available...
If somebody wants to be chipped instead of wearing a
MedAlert ID (pendant or bracelet), that's their
business, but _I_ certainly won't allow my personal
med hx to be made available to any who can read such a
chip. I already know people who, because of their
social/political prominance or potential prominance,
go to 'Doc in a Box'es to get Rxs for stuff like
sleep-aid dosage Elavil (a tricyclic antidepressant),
and pay cash rather than leave a trail. It's one
thing to apprise medical personnel of your
allergies/illnesses, but another entirely to have your
most personal life issues on a computer. 'It's
totally secure!' my fanny - if recent identity theft
from various companies is any gauge, I see no privacy
from computerized medical records.
> ...Civil liberties groups such as Caspian in the US
> fear that the need for
> increased security in the wake of terrorist attacks
> could act as a
> catalyst for a more widespread use of VeriChips.
I didn't catch the 'mandatory' part however -- not
that Tommy Thompson is by any means my favorite
person.
Debbi
Prayer Beads And Rattles Maru
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