Tagging products and people

Abstract

In May 2006, William Koretsky made medical history when he became the first emergency patient to be identified from an implanted radiofrequency identification (RFID) chip. Koretsky, a 44‐year‐old sergeant with the Bergen County Police Department (NJ, USA), had crashed his car into a tree during a high‐speed chase. When he was taken to hospital, an emergency‐room scan revealed an RFID chip in his arm, which had been implanted in 2004 for identification purposes at the suggestion of his police chief. Doctors retrieved the ID number, identified Koretsky using an online database, reviewed his health history and learned that he had type 1 diabetes. While treating his other injuries, physicians quickly began monitoring Koretsky's blood sugar level. The RFID chip, which was manufactured by VeriChip (Delray Beach, FL, USA), might have saved his life. “I was unable to communicate, but the chip talked for me,” Koretsky said. “I couldn't lose the chip, like I could a MedicAlert® bracelet. The VeriChip™ was a home run.” Valeria Kaplan ![][1] RFID chips are increasingly exploited in healthcare, but not always under such dramatic circumstances. They are being used, for example, to address the emerging threats of diversion, theft and counterfeit of medications—from commonly used drugs, such as statins, to narcotics that are resold on the street. However, while politicians and government agencies consider their use in healthcare settings, privacy and consumer advocates worry about the safety and the possible abuse of RFID technology. As prices for RFID chips and readers have fallen, the technology has been taken up commercially, especially by retail giants such as Wal‐Mart in the USA, Tesco and Marks & Spencer in the UK, and Metro in Germany, which use them to track their inventory from suppliers, through their warehouses and into stores. The US Department of Defense is also a big … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif