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RF-IDing the dead
January 12, 2006 -
Human chips more than skin-deep
August 23, 2004
VeriChip, which has created a system for putting RFID chips into humans for medical-record tracking, held an initial public offering on Friday, and the company's stock has been struggling ever since. The stock is currently trading at around $6.15. The company released 3.1 million shares in the IPO for $6.50 a share.
Part of the problem is likely the lackluster sales for the company's most famous product.
Only 222 medical patients in total have opted to get RFID chips from VeriChip implanted as of the end of 2006, according to documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of its initial public offering. It's a modest number, the company says, and revenue for these systems is far below projections.
"To date, we have only generated approximately $0.1 million in revenue ($100,000) from sales of the microchip inserter kits, significantly less than we had projected at the beginning of 2006. We may never achieve market acceptance or more than nominal or modest sales of this system," the company stated.
The slow sales will likely hearten the many critics of the company. When the company first began touting the technology nearly three years ago, it was criticized by civil libertarians, who saw the chips as a gateway to privacy erosion, and by religious consumers some of whom said that implantable chips were the mark of the beast.
In its SEC filing, the company stated that many patients are probably unwilling to get chipped, the company said, and doctors have likely been reluctant to discuss the procedure with clients. Privacy issues and bad publicity have also been factors.
Virtually all the company's revenues come from two Canadian companies it acquired in 2005. These companies, EXI Wireless and Instantel, specialize in infant tracking and "wander" detection systems in rest homes. In these systems, RFID tags alert nurses and medical professionals if an infant or other patient is passing through the exits or into unauthorized areas. In these systems, however, the RFID chip is contained in a wristband.
VeriChip, in fact, may have to begin to stockpile equipment from its suppliers to stay in business. Digital Angel, which invented a similar system for the pet market, granted VeriChip an exclusive license to market the technology to humans. (Digital Angel in turn gets its chips from Raytheon Microelectronics Espana.) The agreement, however, stipulates that VeriChip must buy $875,000 worth of RFID readers and implantable chips from Digital Angel in 2007 and $1.75 million in 2008. If it doesn't, Digital Angel can sign new agreements. VeriChip said it will take actions to prevent the license from lapsing.
The company had earlier scaled back the terms of its IPO. It initially planned to sell 4.3 million shares for between $6.50 and $8.50 per share.
Despite the slow sales, VeriChip says it will continue to market its implantable RFID technology. The FDA approved the used of implantable RFID chips in humans in October 2004. Approximately 1,200 doctors and 66 hospitals have agreed to try out the VeriChip system, assuming patients request it and databases support it.
The company estimates that 45 million patients in the U.S. alone could benefit from implanted RFID chips. The idea is to put medical information into the chip so that paramedics and others could obtain information about medical allergies and other issues in a person if they are unconscious and they lost their medic alert bracelets.
- More from News.com on this story's topics
Medicine
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Funding/IPO
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- What a surprise
- What kind of moron would go for this?
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- 666
- There are probably 666 reasons why you shouldn't. But one day it will be compulsory.
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- I'm surprised by the low sales.
- Why hasn't the criminal justice system picked up on this to track inmates? It's an obvious use that would reduce the costs for these state and federal agencies.
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- New Atom Bomb
- I have no doubt that the Atomic Bomb saved millions of lives when used to end World War Two. But it was like opening Pandora's box, and choosing between the lesser of two evils. Since the creation of the Atomic Bomb, the world has lived in fear ever since. The only reason we have not had an Atomic War is there has not yet been a mad man/woman in power in any major nation such as the United States, the USSR, or even China. An all out Atomic War would be insane, and an end to civilization as we know it. We opened Pandora's box and ended World War Two. Are we once again going to open another Pandora's box the RFID Chips and place the world in total fear once more? To say that it would be like living in Nazi Germany would be understatement. The only comparison I can possibly imagine is that Humans would be place in a time equal to that of the Dark Ages. Quite possibly we as a civilization just did not realize the implications of the Atomic Bomb after it was used. Maybe we just did not have the foresight, or technology. We can no longer used that excuse, nor can we justify releasing the contents of this new Pandora's box upon the world by any measure of the imagination, economic, or other social benefit. The risk is just too great, and the fear is so unimaginable. And for all the readers who attempt to justify the use of RFID chips as a scientific achievement for the good of human kind are fools. RFID chips are not like Penacillian, or the Polio vaccine. The only possible risk associated with Penacillian, or the Polio vaccine would be the refusal to someone deemed undesirable by those in power. Would the refusal to use RFID chips cost lives? Would stopping production put people at risk? Is it the universal savior that brings world peace? No, and don't be a fool and look for some justification to place such power in the hands of those who seek nothing more than profit, power and self gratification. Don't do it. Stop it now before it's too late. And don't listen to such garbage as " I can protect my child by tracing them. " There are other means. First and foremost is learning to become a good parent.
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- Use it to protect people, especially children...
- They should target prisions and for tracking child molesters and other criminals. Know where they are at by tracking their movements, know when they enter a shopping mall or enter/to near a school or a playground.
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- RE: Use it to protect people, especially children
- The question is " Will it stop there?" or even a better question " Who will have access, and who will control it?" There are other means available that are much more efficient and cost effective. Let me pose a another question: Felons are required to give DNA upon their conviction. This DNA will be used to find suspects in years to come once the felon is released. Now what happens to that DNA if the person is found scientifically without a doubt innocent? Do they destroy the DNA, or remove it's listing on the National Criminal database? At this writing there has never been one instance where when a person has been proven innocent that their DNA has been destroyed or removed from the National Criminal database. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.
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- 666
- "There are probably 666 reasons why you shouldn't. But one day it will be compulsory. "
Now that would be a Revelation wouldn't it?
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- When to use it
- Convicts, People in the military, People that work in government agencies, idiots. They should all be chipped and when they are doing something they shouldn't be a nearby radio should say, "and this message is for Bob. Bob, get away from that 12 year old boy! and now back to our program!"
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- VeriChip Fatal Flaw
- This basic technology has a serious FATAL flaw that is under- reported: The super-magnets used in MRI scanning causes The Chip to rip through body tissues at the speed of a bullet. The other serious drawback is that the 'passive' circuitry is ALWAYS ON, continuously receiving and re-transmitting the RF energy ubiquitous in the modern environment. The effects of continuous exposure to such forces are virtually unstudied, and there is no evidence that humans are somehow immune to them.
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