Alzheimer’s Patient Gets Implanted with RFID Microchip (Video)

I’m all for taking care of our elders, but this new identification system seems just a little too creepy and Big Brother-like for my tastes. Turns out that some doctors have decided to implant an RFID microchip into an Alzheimer’s patient. The idea is that when this chip is scanned, medical personnel can immediately identify the patient — who may have wandered away from their home, retirement village, or hospital room — and act accordingly.

The RFID chip itself contains nothing more than an identification number. In the wrong hands, not very much can be learned (which is a good thing). In the right hands, this ID number can then be entered some sort of central database, which will then bring up all of the patient’s vital information like their name, address, and the fact that they have Alzheimer’s. A full medical history can also be extracted.

The technology, or rather this specific implementation, was designed by Verichip. While their intentions may be benign, you’ve got to wonder when they’ll just start implanting these chips into babies at birth, effectively allowing the government to track your every move.

Check out the video at The Consumerist.