Alonso Soto Joya
Associated Press
Jul. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
MEXICO CITY - Borrowing from technology for tracking pets, a U.S. company on
Thursday launched Mexican sales of microchips that can be implanted under a
person's skin and used to confirm health history and identity.
The microchips, already available in the United States, could tap into a growing
industry surrounding Mexico's criminal concerns. Kidnappings, robberies and
fraud are common here, and Mexicans are constantly looking for ways to protect
themselves against crime.
The microchip, the size of a grain of rice, is implanted in the arm or hip.
Hospital officials and security guards use a scanning device to download a serial
number, which they then use to access blood type, name and other information
on a computer.
In a two-hour presentation, Palm Beach, Fla.-based Applied Digital Solutions
Inc. introduced reporters to the VeriChip and used a syringelike device and
local anesthetic to implant a sample in the right arm of employee Carlos Altamirano.
"It doesn't hurt at all," he said. "The whole process is just
painless."
Another chip user, Luis Valdez, who is diabetic, said the chip is "as
innovative to me as the cellphone."
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has said it would not
regulate the implant as long as it contains no medical data. Thus, the information
is stored in a separate database and not on the chip itself
Antonio Aceves, the director of the Mexican company in charge of distributing
the chip here, said that in the first year of sales, the company hoped to implant
chips in 10,000 people and ensure that at least 70 percent of all hospitals
had the technology to read the devices.
One chip costs $150 and has a $50 annual fee. The scanning device and related
software cost $1,200.
Similar technology has been used on dogs and cats as a way to identify the pets
if they are lost or stolen.
Officials said they are working on developing technology that would use satellites
to help find kidnapping victims.
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