Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain. In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair, or even use Twitter — all without lifting a finger. But as neural…
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Chip maker supports Pennsylvania bill to ban forced implantation
The VeriChip Corporation, a Delray Beach, Fla.-based provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems for healthcare, is supporting a Pennsylvania bill that would ban the forced implantation of identification devices in people. The bill, introduced by Democratic State Rep. Babette Josephs, was unanimously passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on June 24 and will…
Physician-patient privilege waived in fraud probe
An Ohio Supreme Court ruling could erode certain confidentiality protections afforded to patients’ medical records, physicians say. The case centered on whether a health insurer could discover patient records to support a billing fraud claim it brought against a doctor. Family physician William Schlotterer, DO, objected to providing his patients’ records to Medical Mutual of…
Patent Rights and Civil Wrongs: The ACLU Lawsuit
[On May 12, and on] behalf of several medical associations, advocacy organizations, physicians, researchers, and individuals, the ACLU filed a lawsuit naming the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Myriad Genetics among the defendants in a potentially historic patent case. The ACLU’s lawsuit ostensibly focuses on the legitimacy of the infamous BRCA1 and…
Google or Microsoft could hold NHS patient records say Tories
Health records could be transferred to Google or Microsoft under a Tory government, The Times has learnt. Patients will be given the option of moving their medical notes to private companies after the Conservatives said that they would replace Labour’s “centrally determined and unresponsive national IT systemâ€. The Tories hope that users will be able…
NHS patients database could be open to identity fraud
The Department of Health is investigating fears by a North Staffordshire doctors’ leader that a new IT system of patient records could make it easy for paedophiles to stalk their victims. He also fears that it could open the door to identity fraud and allow people to snoop on each other. To prove his concerns,…