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NEWS ... GLOBAL NEWS ... MICROCHIP IMPLANTS CAUSE and their caregivers in Florida. Employees The best-known side effects of statins, CANCER IN LAB ANIMALS in the Mexican Attorney General's Office, | which include widely prescribed drugs and their caregivers in Florida. Employees in the Mexican Attorney General's Office, workers in a US security firm and club- goers in Europe have also been implanted. Albrecht expressed concern for those who have received a chip implant, urging them to get the devices removed as soon as possible. "These new revelations change everything," she said. "Why would anyone take the risk of having a cancer chip in their arm?" (Source: Katherine Albrecht, SpyChips.com, 7 September 2007; see also Miami Herald, 8 Sept 2007, http://www.miamiherald.com/ 775/story/230244.html) The best-known side effects of statins, which include widely prescribed drugs such as Lipitor® and Zocor®, are liver damage and muscle problems, although statins have also been tied to changes in memory, concentration and mood, among other problems. Physician reaction to a potential side effect is crucial because the muscle problems can progress to a rare but potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis if the drug isn't discontinued. The researchers investigated the responses of doctors to statin-prescribed patients who believed they were having adverse drug reactions. In the great majority of cases, the patient, not the doctor, initiated the discussion. The investigators were "surprised" at how frequently patients reported that their doctors dismissed their concerns, Golomb said. While her study wasn't designed to find out why, the researcher notes that while the pharmaceutical industry is sure to get the word out about a drug's benefits there is "really no corresponding interest group to make sure that physicians learn about adverse effects". Patients should be aware of the potential adverse effects of any medication they're taking, she said. And those who find their doctors dismiss their concerns should probably look elsewhere for medical care, she added. "In general, patients should always have physicians that they feel are hearing them." (Source: Reuters, 28 August 2007, http:/www.msnbe.msn.com/id/20479490/) ssociated Press will issue a story this weekend [8-9 September] revealing that microchip implants have induced cancer in laboratory animals and dogs, says privacy expert and long-time VeriChip opponent Dr Katherine Albrecht. According to findings from a series of research articles spanning more than a decade, mice and rats injected with glass- encapsulated RFID transponders developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to 10 per cent of cases. The tumours originated in the tissue surrounding the microchips and often grew to surround the devices completely, the researchers said. Albrecht first became aware of the microchip—cancer link when she and her Spychips co-author, Liz McIntyre, were contacted by a pet owner whose dog had died from a chip-induced tumour. Albrecht then found medical studies showing a causal link between microchip implants and cancer in other animals. Before she brought the research to the AP's attention, the studies had somehow escaped public notice. A four-month AP investigation turned up additional documents, several of which had been published before VeriChip's parent company, Applied Digital Solutions, sought FDA approval to market the implant for humans. The VeriChip received FDA approval in 2004 under the watch of then Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who later joined the company's board. Under FDA policy, it would have been VeriChip's responsibility to bring the adverse studies to the FDA's attention, but VeriChip CEO Scott Silverman claims the company was unaware of the research. Albrecht expressed scepticism that a company like VeriChip, whose primary business is microchip implants, would be unaware of relevant studies in the published literature. "For Mr Silverman not to know about this research would be negligent. If he did know about these studies, he certainly had an incentive to keep them quiet," said Albrecht. "Had the FDA known about the cancer link, they might never have approved his company's product." Since gaining FDA approval, VeriChip has aggressively targeted diabetes and dementia patients, and recently announced that it had chipped 90 Alzheimer's patients DOCTORS DISMISS PATIENTS’ DRUG SIDE EFFECTS Au study has revealed that when patients feel they might be having an adverse effect from a prescribed drug, doctors will very often dismiss their concerns. Dr Beatrice A. Golomb of the University of California at San Diego and her colleagues found in their survey of 650 patients taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, who reported having adverse drug reactions, that many said their physicians denied that the drugs could be connected to their symptoms. "Physicians seem to commonly dismiss the possibility of a connection," Golomb told Reuters Health. "This seems to occur even for the best-supported adverse effects of the most widely prescribed class of drugs... Clearly there is a need for better physician education about adverse effects, and there is a strong need for patient involvement in adverse event reporting." a“ | ' oo Z Zn |, ; WS i] wh Oy SLs om 1' £. £ YP = by 4 AM le aan iy iy i : P Na Mee aif : aad Samerwi fle ai 44, atta La We MT a Mee aude Semeruifle A NEXUS +7 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com