And someday this tiny chip could contain the information itself. It already is possible to put every bit of medical information about a citizen on to an embedded chip, from the day he is born to the day he dies.

The current system, with a number and a database, has been deployed in several countries and in various U.S. hospitals, particularly in emergency rooms. Both implantable and wearable microchips are a reality. In fact, the largest VeriChip security system in the country was recently installed in the Washington Hospital Center in Washington D.C.

The goals of such technology certainly are laudable. They seek to prevent medical mistakes, to protect Alzheimer's patients and others who are often unable to speak for themselves. But once again, how this system is implemented and how quickly it is being accepted is a problem that will undoubtedly lead to unintended consequences.

To date, there either has been no risk assessment study as to whether the database used in the VeriChip systems or the microchips themselves are corruptible or if there have been studies they apparently have not been made available to the healthcare professionals who have requested them. Let me repeat that: the FDA approved this program, which is now going along at great speed, and there has been no study about whether this sensitive data is safe from intrusion and/or theft. And if there is anything we have learned in the computer era it is that where there is a will there is a way. The criminals who invent malicious viruses or steal information always seem to find a way in to a database, especially when there is money to be made.

I suppose it is too much to expect that Congress anticipate new technology, but at least Congress might try to keep up with what already is available when drafting legislation. Plans were under way for micro-chipping medical records when the original HIPPA laws were passed and their existence certainly might have been considered in the seven years it took HIPPA to be enforced. Now the law must once again try and catch up with what already is happening around us.