Medici veri hanno sostenuto che l’impianto di chip nelle persone potrebbe aiutare a identificarle e a guarirle nel caso abbiano subito gravi incidenti e non possano parlare. In Canada il dibattito è forte. E’ come se si contrapponessero i temi che riguardano le persone sane a quelli che riguardano le persone malate. Problemi? Privacy in pericolo. La possibilità che qualcuno entri nei chip e li modifichi. Effetti collaterali ignoti. Speranze? La possibilità di salvare delle vite che altrimenti si sarebbero perse. Non vorrei che l’insieme di queste misure si traducesse in una società votata a una sorta di generalizzato accanimento terapeutico…

The American Medical Association has endorsed the use of implantable microchips to help reduce medical errors and adverse drug reactions.

It said the chips may help to identify patients, "thereby improving the safety and efficiency of patient care," reports the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

But the AMA’s policy recommendation was filled with cautions, since the security of the microchips hasn’t been established. Some observers fear the potential for loss of privacy and misuse of medical records might outweigh the benefits.

In Canada, the technology is unregulated as a medical device, according to Health Canada. But Canadian doctors, ethicists and critics wonder if it could come here.

"It’s a very real possibility," said Teresa Scassa, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and technology expert.

"The implantable medical chips are being looked at very seriously by hospitals and other health-care facilities."

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has already approved a microchip – with limited storage and a transmission range of a few metres – that contains basic information, such as the presence of a chronic disease or pacemaker, according to the CMAJ.

Toronto critical-care surgeon Dr. Talat Chughtai said that saving lives "trumps everything else."

Link: TheStar.com – Health – Medical science aims to microchip you.