MICROCHIP IMPLANTS CAUSE FAST-GROWING, MALIGNANT TUMORS IN LAB ANIMALS
September 9, 2007
Damning research findings could spell the end of VeriChip.
The Associated Press will issue a breaking story this weekend revealing that microchip implants
have induced cancer in laboratory animals and dogs, says privacy expert and long-time VeriChip opponent Dr. Katherine Albrecht.
As the AP will report, a series of research articles spanning more than a decade found that
mice and rats injected with glass-encapsulated RFID transponders developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to
1% to 10% of cases. The tumors originated in the tissue surrounding the microchips and often grew to completely surround the
devices, the researchers said.
Albrecht first became aware of the microchip-cancer link when she and her "Spychips" co-author,
Liz McIntyre, were contacted by a pet owner whose dog had died from a chip-induced tumor. Albrecht then found medical studies
showing a causal link between microchip implants and cancer in other animals. Before she brought the research to the AP's
attention, the studies had somehow escaped public notice.
A four-month AP investigation turned up additional documents, several of which had been published
before VeriChip's parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, sought FDA approval to market the implant for humans. The VeriChip
received FDA approval in 2004 under the watch of then Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson who later joined
the
company's board.
Under FDA policy, it would have been VeriChip's responsibility to bring the adverse studies
to the FDA's attention, but VeriChip CEO Scott Silverman claims the company was unaware of the research.
Albrecht expressed skepticism that a company like VeriChip, whose primary business is microchip
implants, would be unaware of relevant studies in the published literature.
"For Mr. Silverman not to know about this research would be negligent. If he did know about these
studies, he certainly had an incentive to keep them quiet," said Albrecht. "Had the FDA known about the cancer link, they
might never have approved his company's product."
Since gaining FDA approval, VeriChip has aggressively targeted diabetic and dementia patients,
and recently announced that it had chipped 90 Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers in Florida.
Employees in the Mexican Attorney General's Office, workers in a U.S. security
firm, and club-goers in Europe have also been implanted.
Albrecht expressed concern for those who have received a chip implant, urging them to get
the devices removed as soon as possible.
"These new revelations change everything," she said. "Why would anyone take the risk of having
a cancer chip in their arm?"