Doctors back plan to store medical info under your skin

I see this being SOLD to us as a means to make medical treatments much faster and SAVING LIVES. This type of action can only be pulled off if the marketers of such hire the advertising firm that VISA currently is using to SELL us on the benefits of a truly CASHLESS society.

It harkens me back to my childhodd when the "fringe" neighbor sported a bumper sticker on the back of his Ford Bronco which stated " I'll give up my gun when they pry my cold dead fingers from around the trigger"

My neighbor wasn't on the "fringe element" he was ahead of his time in predicting what would occur in the not so distant future.

R.I.P. Bob Rosenberry and take solice that you went out before "compliance" at any cost becomes the norm.


Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070626/hl_afp/ushealthsciencetechnology;_ylt=AguKQStm0.XY5conVnrV1usDW7oF

Doctors back plan to store medical info under your skin

Tue Jun 26, 9:38 AM ET

Doctors could soon be storing essential medical information under the
skin of their patients, the American Medical Association says.

Devices the size of a grain of rice that are implanted with a needle
could give emergency room doctors quick access to the records of
chronically ill patients, the nation's largest doctors group said in a
report.

The association adopted a policy Monday stating that the devices can
improve the "safety and efficiency of patient care" by helping to
identify patients and enabling secure access to clinical information.

These radio frequency identification tags (RFIDs) are already used by
Wal-Mart and other businesses to speed up their shipping systems by
sending out small signals that can be scanned more easily than bar codes.

Implanting them in people "can improve the continuity and coordination
of care with resulting reductions in adverse drug events and other
medical errors," said the report prepared by the association's ethics
committee.

But the devices "also may pose some physical risks, compromise patient
privacy, or present other social hazards."

The main concern is protecting the privacy of the information stored on
the devices.

There are also health concerns.

While the devices are removable and designed to stay in place, their
small size could allow them to move to other parts of a person's body.

They may also cause interference with electrical devices like
defibrillators and it has not been determined what impact they would
have on prescription drugs.

The report concluded that it is "likely that utilization of RFID devices
for medical purposes will expand."

The US Food and Drug Administration has so far only approved "passive"
tags for human implantation which cannot be altered once inserted and
have a limited capacity and transmission range.

The devices are also only allowed to contain a unique identification
code in order to protect patient privacy.

The FDA may eventually approve "active" devices which contain internal
batteries and can be updated as a patient's condition changes.

The association warned of "potential social consequences" such as using
the devices for surveillance which could be an infringement on
individual liberties.

It recommended that the devices not be implanted without the informed
consent of patients and that doctors monitor their use.