Jan 21, 2005This article was originally published by RFID Update.
January 21, 2005—More VeriChip news came today as it was announced that the Chief Information Officer of Harvard Medical School, John D. Halamka, had himself chipped in December to evaluate the human-tagging technology for himself. According to the press release, Halamka, who still practices medicine, would be willing to recommend the VeriChip technology to patients if his own trial proves satisfactory. He claimed that the chipping process took fifteen minutes, and that once implanted, the chip was neither painful nor evident. Halamka has since completed strenuous physical activities in sub-freezing, high-altitude environments, and the chip has neither affected his athletic abilities nor exhibited signs of its own performance degradation. He claims to get 100% read rates when coming within five inches of the VeriChip reader.
While there are myriad possible uses of the rice grain-sized VeriChip, the company has decided to initially market the product as a healthcare service. Stories like this one, and more importantly, the US Food and Drug Administration's October approval of VeriChip for medical uses, lend credibility to this strategy. But the skeptics may well be justified in being wary of the company's future plans for the technology. See the story below for a look at some of VeriChip's partners.
Read the press release on Business Wire
