The hell with humans – what about our beloved little cat Riley?  He’s chipped, though the studies seem to have been just on mice and not on cats or dogs. Is he at risk? I’ve just fired off a query to Avid,  the manufacturer for clarification or comment. Their email address was not easy to find, but turned out to be on their online ordering page. It’s info@avidmicrochip.com

Also, near the bottom of the news article is a long section detailing former HHS secretary Tommy Thompson’s business relationship with the VeriChip corporation, and wondering whether he had anything to do with expediting the company’s rather easy FDA approval for implanting their chips in humans, or benefited financially.

RFID implants linked to animal tumors – Boing Boing

VeriChip — and other vendors — have been busily implanting radio-frequency ID (RFID) chips in human and animal subjects ever since the FDA approved the process. But a series of studies conducted from 1996-2006 noted a high incidence of dangerous tumors arising at the sites of RFID implants — something the FDA apparently did not consider when it approved the procedure.

[tags]BoingBoing, microchips, cancer, animals, Avid, FDA[/tags]