CASPIAN RELEASES NEW EVIDENCE OF VERICHIP LIES AND DECEPTION
Group's Latest Report Sets Record Straight on Chip Implants, Cancer, andmore.
Opponents of the VeriChip implant are launching a new offensive againstthe controversial human microchip this week, amid reports that VeriChipplans to put its chipping division on the auction block. A new report titled "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions"released today by CASPIANConsumer Privacy reveals dirty laundry thecompany would probably rather keep hidden as it seeks a buyer for itsbeleaguered product.
The 42-page report was authored by CASPIAN director Dr. KatherineAlbrecht, a Harvard-educated privacy expert and long-time critic of theVeriChip. Thehighlight of the report is an eleven-page section titled"Cancer Cover-up" that describes a systematic pattern of lies anddeception engaged by VeriChip executives in an effort to downplay thefact that implantable microchips cause cancer in laboratory animals.
The report reveals how news outlets like Time Magazine, Business Week,and the RFID Journal were used as unwitting pawns in a VeriChip schemeto spread misinformation about the cancer studies. Since researchlinking the product to cancer first surfaced last year, each of thesepublications has repeated misstatements from VeriChip companyexecutives, in many cases printing the inaccurate statements verbatim and unchallenged.
"These were not subjective issues, they were plainly verifiable issuesof fact," Albrecht said. "We were saddened to see the misstatements fallthrough the fact-checking cracks of these respected publications. Now that VeriChip is back in the headlines, we felt it was time to set therecord straight."
VeriChip's media efforts have done little to salvage the company'spublic image or its financial performance, both of which plummeted afterresearch linking the implantable microchip to cancer was widely revealed by the Associated Press in September 2007. The same company that oncepredicted revenues in the "billions" earned just $3,000 from itsmicrochip implant operations in the first quarter of 2008, as patients shun the device that many are now calling the "cancer chip."
Investors have also distanced themselves from the failing company, withVeriChip's stock plummeting from a high of $10.62 last year to just over$2.00 today. VeriChip's VP of business development, Jay McKeage, acknowledged theimplant division suffers from "a substantial cash burn" and is "notsustainable on its own." As a result, he says, VeriChip plans to "shop the VeriMed / Health Link [human implantable chip] business aroundwidely" in hopes that another company will take the unpopular productoff its hands.
However, with recent blog headlines like "VeriChip Death Watch" makingthe rounds, Albrecht has a hard time imagining who, if anyone, will wantto buy the business.
"This is a company that has engaged in a consistent pattern of makingfalse and misleading statements," she said. "It has lied to the public,to the media, to its shareholders, and to regulatory agencies," shesaid, citing additional evidence from the report indicating thatVeriChip hid cancer evidence from the FDA when the agency reviewed theimplant's safety in 2004.
"We laid out all the evidence in our report," she added. "We want tomake sure no one else gets burned by VeriChip."
============================================================= ABOUT THE REPORT
CASPIAN's new report, "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently AskedQuestions," is a comprehensive reference guide to implantable microchips in animals and humans. It provides thoroughly-researched, footnotedanswers to 85 of the most commonly asked questions about the implantable microchip, including religious, privacy, social, and health questions.The report concludes with a list of recommendations for patients, petowners, and policy makers affected by the device.
While on the website, readers are encouraged to download Dr. Albrecht'scomprehensive 52-page overview of the studies, "Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990-2006,"and to review scanned copies of the original documents.
===================================================================== ABOUT CASPIAN
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade theirprivacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.
CASPIAN RELEASES NEW EVIDENCE OF VERICHIP LIES AND DECEPTION
Group's Latest Report Sets Record Straight on Chip Implants, Cancer, andmore.
Opponents of the VeriChip implant are launching a new offensive againstthe controversial human microchip this week, amid reports that VeriChipplans to put its chipping division on the auction block. A new report titled "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions"released today by CASPIANConsumer Privacy reveals dirty laundry thecompany would probably rather keep hidden as it seeks a buyer for itsbeleaguered product.
The 42-page report was authored by CASPIAN director Dr. KatherineAlbrecht, a Harvard-educated privacy expert and long-time critic of theVeriChip. Thehighlight of the report is an eleven-page section titled"Cancer Cover-up" that describes a systematic pattern of lies anddeception engaged by VeriChip executives in an effort to downplay thefact that implantable microchips cause cancer in laboratory animals.
The report reveals how news outlets like Time Magazine, Business Week,and the RFID Journal were used as unwitting pawns in a VeriChip schemeto spread misinformation about the cancer studies. Since researchlinking the product to cancer first surfaced last year, each of thesepublications has repeated misstatements from VeriChip companyexecutives, in many cases printing the inaccurate statements verbatim and unchallenged.
"These were not subjective issues, they were plainly verifiable issuesof fact," Albrecht said. "We were saddened to see the misstatements fallthrough the fact-checking cracks of these respected publications. Now that VeriChip is back in the headlines, we felt it was time to set therecord straight."
VeriChip's media efforts have done little to salvage the company'spublic image or its financial performance, both of which plummeted afterresearch linking the implantable microchip to cancer was widely revealed by the Associated Press in September 2007. The same company that oncepredicted revenues in the "billions" earned just $3,000 from itsmicrochip implant operations in the first quarter of 2008, as patients shun the device that many are now calling the "cancer chip."
Investors have also distanced themselves from the failing company, withVeriChip's stock plummeting from a high of $10.62 last year to just over$2.00 today. VeriChip's VP of business development, Jay McKeage, acknowledged theimplant division suffers from "a substantial cash burn" and is "notsustainable on its own." As a result, he says, VeriChip plans to "shop the VeriMed / Health Link [human implantable chip] business aroundwidely" in hopes that another company will take the unpopular productoff its hands.
However, with recent blog headlines like "VeriChip Death Watch" makingthe rounds, Albrecht has a hard time imagining who, if anyone, will wantto buy the business.
"This is a company that has engaged in a consistent pattern of makingfalse and misleading statements," she said. "It has lied to the public,to the media, to its shareholders, and to regulatory agencies," shesaid, citing additional evidence from the report indicating thatVeriChip hid cancer evidence from the FDA when the agency reviewed theimplant's safety in 2004.
"We laid out all the evidence in our report," she added. "We want tomake sure no one else gets burned by VeriChip."
============================================================= ABOUT THE REPORT
CASPIAN's new report, "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently AskedQuestions," is a comprehensive reference guide to implantable microchips in animals and humans. It provides thoroughly-researched, footnotedanswers to 85 of the most commonly asked questions about the implantable microchip, including religious, privacy, social, and health questions.The report concludes with a list of recommendations for patients, petowners, and policy makers affected by the device.
While on the website, readers are encouraged to download Dr. Albrecht'scomprehensive 52-page overview of the studies, "Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990-2006,"and to review scanned copies of the original documents.
===================================================================== ABOUT CASPIAN
CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade theirprivacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.
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