Does Newt Gingrich Favor Microchipping Alzheimer's Patients? His Sponsor Sure Does

PositiveID (PSID), the company that makes implantable microchips for Alzheimer's patients, is sponsoring former House speaker Newt Gingrich's keynote address at the 2010 Alzheimer's Educational Conference in West Palm Beach, Fla.

To be fair, Gingrich probably isn't familiar with a controversial 2007 PositiveID project in which 200 Alzheimer's patients were implanted with RFID microchips that gave access to their health records when scanned. That "study" came under fire after it was reported that the company hadn't followed proper ethical guidelines in conducting it, leading to doubts as to whether the patients -- or their guardians -- had properly granted permission for the implants.

In addition to Alzheimer's patients, PositiveID has previously suggested that chips could be usefully implanted in maritime workers (their records are hard to get hold of in foreign ports); diabetics; people afraid of identity theft; patients in certain Florida health systems; and anyone else who might enter a hospital.

PositiveID (formerly known as VeriChip) is a presenting sponsor at the conference and CEO Scott Silverman is giving a keynote address. If there's a Q&A after either Gingrich or Silverman's speech, it might be quite lively given the number of conservatives who believe that implanted health record microchips are a gross invasion of privacy.

Related:

• Inside the Australian Government's Scary Web Site on Microchip ID Implants
• Chip Implanter PositiveID Aims to Clean Up a PR Mess -- One of Its Own Making
• Your Medical Records: Soon to be Held for Ransom by a Chip-Implant Maker
• PositiveID's Latest Human Chip-Implant Scare Story: "Medical Identity Theft"
• The Controversy Magnet: PositiveID "Chips" Alzheimer's Patients, Quite Possibly Without Permission