 CASPIAN
Special Report, October 19, 2004
FDA
Letter Raises Questions about VeriChip Safety, Data Security
Think
it's completely safe to inject an RFID transponder into your flesh?
Think again.
Although
the FDA approved the VeriChip implant last week, their approval does
not mean the device is completely safe, according to an FDA letter
CASPIAN has obtained. The letter, dated October 12, 2004, was sent to
Digital Angel Corporation and outlines a number of potential health
risks associated with the device.
Among
the potential problems the FDA identifies are: "adverse tissue
reaction," "migration of the implanted transponder," "failure of
implanted transponder," "electrical hazards" and "magnetic resonance
imaging [MRI] incompatibilty." Not to mention the nasty needle stick
from the
"inserter" used to inject it. (The FDA lists "failure of inserter"
-- a bloody possiblity we'd rather not contemplate -- among the risks.)
To
read the FDA's letter for yourself, download
the PDF and refer to Page 3, Paragraph 2.
Of
the numerous risks listed, MRI incompatibility is perhaps the most
serious. 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."
Presumably,
VeriChip-MRI incompatibility means that doctors will be unable to order
this potentially life-saving diagnostic procedure for patients with
VeriChip implants, unless the patient undergoes a surgical procedure to
remove the VeriChip first.
 In addition to health
risks, the FDA's letter identifies "compromised data security" as one
of the concerns associated with the VeriChip. It appears that not only
could someone use a reader device to capture the information from an
implanted VeriChip, but they could use that information to create a
cloned chip with the same functionality. (Of course, criminals lacking
RF engineering skills might be tempted to take a more direct route and
simply gouge the device out of their victims' arms instead.)
If that's not enough to convince you to "say no" to the VeriChip, how
about knowing your VeriChip implant can be read whenever you pass
through a doorway equipped with a special VeriChip "portal
scanner"?
The image at right comes from a company called "Find Me, LLC," a
value-added reseller of VeriChip technology based in Louisiana. The
company also sells a handheld reader,
which presumably anyone can use to read VeriChip data.
That's quite a lot of
potential harm for something supposedly designed to help patients.
 If you're looking for
a secure, non-invasive way to alert medical professionals to your
health history, we recommend the MedicAlert bracelet
as a safe alternative to the VeriChip. Given the
MedicAlert's 48-year track record, all emergency health providers know
to look for it. It costs far less and
has none of the serious health risks associated with an implanted
computer chip.
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The Spychips website is a
project of CASPIAN,
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. ©
CASPIAN 2003-2004.
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