PositiveID's (Verichip) Latest Human Chip-Implant Scare Story: "Medical Identity Theft"

"When PositiveID (PSID), the company that makes implantable microchips that grant access to patients’ online medical records, acquired the credit monitoring and identity theft company SteelVault, it was never quite clear how the two business would mesh together. Recently, however, PositiveID (formerly known as VeriChip) has indicated that it believes the two business should segue into one another via protection against medical identity theft, which, it claims, accounts for seven percent of all identity theft.

I previously assumed that PositiveID would put up firewalls between the two businesses, even though both units might share technologies. After all, who really wants their online medical records stored in the same place and accessed by the same chips as their credit rating and social security number? The answer is that about 20,000 people have already signed up for PositiveID’s NationalCreditReport.com protection services. As you can see from CEO Scott R. Silverman’s quote in the press release, he sees the medical and credit aspects of his business as two sides of the same coin:

In addition to helping consumers protect themselves from identity theft as it pertains to credit fraud, we are also focused on combating the growing problem of medical identity theft, which affects 7 percent of identity theft victims. Through our secure personal health record, Health Link, which is interoperable with Microsoft Health Vault and soon-to-be with Google Health, we put consumers in charge of their own health information through a robust, patient-controlled interface.

That “7 percent” statistic is interesting. A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute found that only 5.8 percent of ID theft cases involve medical identity theft. PositiveID’s press release doesn’t cite the source of the number. Perhaps PositiveID has the data lying around its offices somewhere." ...source

The Controversy Magnet: PositiveID (Verichip) "Chips" Alzheimer's Patients, Quite Possibly Without Permission

"When is a medical experiment in which you implant microchips in 200 old people with Alzheimer’s disease not a medical experiment? According to PositiveID (PSID), it’s when you forget to get permission from an institutional review board, which oversees medical experiments on humans.

The omission will be seized upon by the company’s legion of critics, writing yet another gloomy PR chapter for a company that can’t do anything without triggering negative headlines.

The murk surrounding whether PositiveID got proper permission — either from a panel of experts or the patients themselves — for implanting the Florida senior citizens with microchips linked to their healthcare records was revealed by Penn Bullock in a story on James Randi’s web site for pseudoscience skeptics." ...more

Virginia delegates pass bill banning chip implants as ‘mark of the beast’ | Raw Story

 "Concerns over privacy have aligned with apocalyptic Biblical prophecy in a proposed Virginia law that limits the use of microchip implants on humans because of a lawmaker's concern that the chips will prove to be the Antichrist's 'mark of the beast.'

On Wednesday, Virginia's House of Delegates passed a bill that forbids companies from forcing their employees to be implanted with tracking devices, a move likely to be applauded by civil libertarians.

But Virginia state Delegate Mark Cole's reasons for proposing the law have as much to do with the Book of Revelation as they do with concerns over privacy in the digital age.

Cole says he is concerned that the implants will turn out to be the 'mark of the beast' worn by Satan's minions.

'My understanding -- I'm not a theologian -- but there's a prophecy in the Bible that says you'll have to receive a mark, or you can neither buy nor sell things in end times,' Cole said, as quoted at the Washington Post. 'Some people think these computer chips might be that mark.'" ...more

Verichip is now called PositiveID! Roll up your sleeve for the implantable human microchip, it's now Positive?

"As sure as the sun rises, so Verichip keeps spawning and shape shifting to gain market acceptance as people from across the globe unite and reject the IBM seed-funded, Raytheon-manufactured Human Implantable microchip company.

To 'mark' a new year, Verichip is now called PositiveID!. If you have followed this company's progress as we have and cited the damning evidence showcasing a casual link between microchipping and cancer⁴, Verichip is certainly not positive. But in this world of semantics and double speak, no doubt a CEO meeting along with other top execs decided that throwing the word 'Positive' in the title would make Alzheimer patients who get microchipped without their consent less hesitant as their sleeve was rolled up in the name of 'wander protection'. 'Was that a needle?' asks the patient? 'No! it was a mosquito bite, you have Alzheimer's, remember?'

What has changed in 2010?

Well, Verichip/PositiveID has a new marketing and media relations company! Just as all actors in Hollywood require an agent to handle their image as they enter the market, so Verichip/PositiveID has decided to do the same.

The company taking over Verichips/PositiveID media relations and corporate communications is Gibraltar⁵. A company who has close ties with the Clinton administration, expertise in biotech, energy and of course as a company who has excellent inroads into government, Gibraltar even has the mandatory Washington office!⁷

Why this recent appointment?

Verichip/PositiveID has been pummeled on the NASDAQ , having been delisted in March 2009, but staging a comeback to have their stock regain NASDAQ Compliance⁸ in October 2009. Verichip/PositiveID stock has been crushed from a high of just over $10 down to a humiliating low of $0.24 cents.9

Why this backlash? It's a human implantable microchip and that does not sit well with the Ma and Pa investor. Who in their right mind invests in a company whose product causes tumors? Who in their right mind invests in a company that microchips Alzheimer patients without their consent? As Verichip/PositiveID's stock price today indicates, not many individuals and certainly not investment companies who are minimizing risk in the current economy.

Regardless of what happens on the stock market, the fact is Verichip is not going away. Why? Because their seed funding originates from the information giant IBM who has over 407,000 employees worldwide. Nothing like having a Big Blue Sugar Daddy watching over you in this financial climate, especially one that writes off a $60 million dollar loan to ensure the human microchipping agenda is in place for 'future' generations. $60 million is chickenfeed to a company who turns over 100 billion US dollars a year. Yes sir, the IBM Hollerith Machine Punch Card system was very profitable in WWII, cleverly 'leased' to the Nazi regime to create enabling technologies to identify and catalog non-compliant peoples." ...more

Microchip under your skin!

VeriChip Corporation Completes Acquisition of Steel Vault Corporation - Yahoo! Finance

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VeriChip Corporation (NASDAQ:CHIP - News) ("VeriChip"), a provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, and Steel Vault Corporation (OTCBB:SVUL - News) ("Steel Vault"), a premier provider of identity security products and services, announced today that VeriChip has completed its acquisition of Steel Vault to provide unique health and security identification tools to protect consumers and businesses. In conjunction with the merger, VeriChip has changed its name to PositiveID ("PositiveID" or the "Company").

PositiveID represents the convergence of a pioneer in personal health records and the first and only FDA-cleared implantable microchip for patient identification, VeriChip, with a leader in the identity security space, Steel Vault, focused on access and security of consumers' critical data.

PositiveID will initially operate primarily in two areas: HealthID and ID Security. HealthID will focus on bringing innovative health solutions to consumers and businesses based on the Company's intellectual property, specifically a rapid virus detection system for the H1N1 virus and other forms of pandemic viruses, and an in vivo glucose-sensing RFID microchip, both of which are currently under development with partner RECEPTORS LLC. The Company will also offer its Health Link personal health record to help consumers manage their health records online. Through its ID Security segment, the Company will offer identity theft protection and related services including credit monitoring and reporting through its NationalCreditReport.com website.

Under terms of the agreement and plan of reorganization, Steel Vault stockholders will receive 0.5 shares of VeriChip common stock for every share of Steel Vault common stock held. The outstanding stock options and warrants of Steel Vault will also be converted at the same ratio. No fractional shares of VeriChip common stock will be issued in connection with the proposed merger. Instead, VeriChip will make a cash payment to each Steel Vault stockholder who would otherwise receive a fractional share. This merger is a stock–for–stock transaction, and is expected to be a tax free exchange.

Commenting on the transaction, Scott R. Silverman, Chairman and CEO of PositiveID, stated, "In joining these two companies, we believe we are better positioned to accelerate the development of our exciting diagnostic and sensor applications such as glucose-sensing, as well as our rapid virus detection system for the H1N1 virus and other pandemic viruses. By moving beyond the original patient identification application of our implantable RFID microchip technology, we believe that we will be able to get high-value products to market faster with a more efficient use of capital."

Silverman continued, "From a financial standpoint, we believe the merger has made us stronger by eliminating the duplicative costs of running two public companies. Furthermore, we are fully-funded to develop the glucose-sensing microchip and the rapid virus detection system and have no debt."...source

Verichip"s Latest TV Ad

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Microchip Implant to Link Your Health Records, Credit History, Social Security

BNET: "Novartis and Proteus Biomedical are not the only companies hoping to implant microchips into patients so that their pill-popping habits can be monitored. VeriChip of Delray Beach, Fl., has an even bolder idea: an implanted chip that links to an online database containing all your medical records, credit history and your social security ID.

As this presentation to investors makes clear, the chip and its database could form the basis of a new national identity database lined to Social Security and NationalCreditReport.com. The VeriMed Health Link homepage describes the chip:

… a tiny, passive microchip (the nation’s first and only microchip cleared for patient identification by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) and a secure, private online database that links you to your personal health record. Your Health Link is always with you and cannot be lost or stolen.

That database can be accessed by doctors and nurses:

About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip is inserted just under the skin and contains only a unique, 16-digit identifier. The microchip itself does not contain any other data other than this unique electronic ID, nor does it contain any Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking capabilities. And unlike conventional forms of identification, the Health Link cannot be lost, stolen, misplaced, or counterfeited. It is safe, secure, reversible, and always with you....More

But VeriChip’s ambitions don’t end there, as this diagram indicates:"

Yes, it shows your Health Link chip linked to Google, Microsoft, employers and insurers. The company also sees the VeriMed Health Link linked to your “identity security services,” through a separate VeriChip product, PositiveID. This slide show states:

PositiveID puts people in control of their personal health records and financial information, bridging the gap between secure medical records and identity security

PositiveID dovetails with Health Link:

Cross marketing opportunities: cross-sell the NationalCreditReport.com customer base the Health Link personal health record and vice-versa

Differentiates PositiveID as the only personal health record that offers identity theft protection

It’s a future in which your doctor tags you like a dog with a microchip that allows anyone with the right privileges to look at your medical records, credit history, social security number (see slide 6), and anything else that stems from that.

Suddenly, storing medical records on paper in locked cabinets inside a single doctor’s office starts to look like something we may not want to rush to give up. ...source

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VeriChip (CHIP) to Acquire Steel Vault Corp.Changing Name to PositiveID Corp.

"VeriChip Corporation (NASDAQ: CHIP) and Steel Vault Corporation (OTCBB: SVUL) announced today that VeriChip has agreed to acquire Steel Vault and form PositiveID Corporation to offer identification tools and technologies for consumers and businesses. In conjunction with the merger, VeriChip plans to change its name to PositiveID and continue to trade on the NASDAQ. PositiveID intends to change its ticker symbol to 'PSID' upon closing of the transaction.

The formation of PositiveID represents the convergence of a pioneer in personal health records, VeriChip, with a leader in the identity security space, Steel Vault, focused on access and security of a consumer's critical data. The companies believe that joining personal health records and identity security solutions provides a solid foundation for organic growth and a strong, flexible platform for future offers.

Under terms of the agreement, Steel Vault stockholders will receive 0.5 shares of VeriChip common stock for every share of Steel Vault common stock held. The outstanding stock options and warrants of Steel Vault will also be converted at the same ratio. This merger is a stock-for-stock transaction, is expected to be a tax free exchange, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009. Regulatory approvals and affirmative stockholder votes are required from VeriChip and Steel Vault.

It is expected that Scott R. Silverman, the current Chairman and CEO of VeriChip, will become PositiveID's Chairman and CEO, and that William J. Caragol, the CEO of Steel Vault, will become PositiveID's President and Chief Operating Officer." StreetInsider.com - VeriChip (CHIP) to Acquire Steel Vault Corp. (SVUL), Forming PositiveID Corp.:
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Next step in H1N1 scare: Microchip implants

"A Florida-based company that boasts selling the world's first and only federally approved radio microchip for implanting in humans is now turning its development branch toward 'emergency preparedness,' hoping to produce an implant that can automatically detect in its host's bloodstream
the presence of swine flu or other viruses deemed a 'bio-threat.'

VeriChip Corporation currently sells a small, under-the-skin Radio Frequency Identification capsule, or RFID, that patients can opt to have implanted, containing a number computer-linked to their medical records, enabling doctors with a special reader to access the information even if the patient is unconscious or unidentified. The company boasts its microchip, roughly the size of a grain of rice, is the only such implant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

But VeriChip has also turned its attention to other uses for the technology, including microchips that be used to tag and log human remains after a disaster and implants the company hopes will be able to warn if their host is infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus, the H5N1 bird flu virus or other pandemic agents deemed to be a 'bio-threat.'

VeriChip is working with a Minnesota company, Receptors LLC, to develop the virus-detection technology.

'As we continue to build on our partnership with Receptors, which started with the development of a glucose-sensing RFID implantable microchip, we are moving beyond patient identification to sensors that can detect and identify illnesses and viruses such as influenza,' said Scott R. Silverman, chairman of VeriChip, in a statement. 'This is an exciting next step for the future of our healthcare division.'"...more
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States to Microchip Criminals to track them? (Video)

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Bill Prohibits Forced Implantation

Bill Prohibits Forced Implantation: "The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a 195-0 vote has passed legislation to mandate informed consent before an individual is implanted with an identification device. The legislation, H.B. 1175, now moves to the state Senate.

The bill defines an identification device as 'any item, application or product that is passively or actively capable of transmitting personal information, including, but not limited to, devices using radio frequency technology.'

VeriChip Corp., a Delray Beach, Fla.-based vendor of an implantable microchip to provide access to an individual's medical records, supports the bill. 'In general, we are supportive of legislation that prohibits forced implants,' said Scott Silverman, chair of VeriChip, in a statement. 'VeriChip, like any other medical device, should be an election by the patient or his or her physician, loved one or guardian.'

Under the legislation, 'no device shall be implanted or incorporated into the body without the fully informed written consent of the individual. The consent of a guardian, parent or attorney shall not constitute consent. An individual must be at least 18 years of age and of sound mind to undergo implementation of an identification device.'

That language would suggest such devices could not be used to track the whereabouts of persons with dementia.

The bill's provisions would not apply to individuals ordered by a state or federal court to be implanted as part of a sentence or condition for parole or release. It also would exempt military prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.

The legislation authorizes civil penalties of up to $10,000 and gives victims the right to bring a civil suit.

Text of the bill is available at legis.state.pa.us. Under Find, click on Session Information. Under Bill Information, enter HB 1175. Then select Printer's No. 2239 for the House-passed version.

--Joseph Goedert"

Microchipping humans? Part 1

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - We've microchipped our pets for years for fear of them getting lost, but right now a project is underway in Florida to microchip people.

The FDA-approved microchip is about the size of a grain of rice. So far, the microchip project is geared toward patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The idea is that the chip, using a radio frequency, is trackable if the person goes missing, but some fear the microchip is "big brother" -- inserted right under your skin.

George Orwell's "1984" instilled images of "big brother," the idea that someone, somewhere is always watching us. Fast forward nearly a quarter century and some fear the pervasive, invasive surveillance that is "big brother" has become reality. Microchips, usually put in our pets, are now being used in people...read more

VeriChip goes consumer with its implantable RFID chips; Would you buy? |

"VeriChip said Tuesday it will begin pitching its implantable RFID chips directly to consumers in a move that aims to link doctors directly to personal health records. verichip.png

VeriChip said it will launch a direct-to-consumer marketing campaign in South Florida on April 28. The general idea appears to be to woo a bunch of retirees to implant an RFID chip (right) and connect the information with personal health records. VeriChip will pitch its wares through HEARx hearing aid stores in the Palm Beach area."... read more