The Alzheimer's Chip

ABC News has reported on a Florida-based company which is implanting two hundred Alzheimer's patients in the Palm Beach, Florida area with sub-dermal microchips. Called VeriChips, they can be scanned by a hospital that has taken in a lost Alzheimer's patient and provide identification and medical information about the person. Read the article here. The crux of the piece seems to be the privacy issues raised by implanting a chip in someone who cannot give informed consent. Katherine Albrecht of AntiChip.com is quoted in the article as saying that it's a matter of dignity for the patients. I've checked out her website, and it makes various claims of adverse health risks associated with the VeriChips. Still, the chips have been approved by the FDA, and I'm not informed enough to make an educated statement about the healthiness of the chips. On the issue of dignity, however, I do have a thought. Would it be dignified to lose your wandering loved one who suffers from Alzheimer's and cannot make an informed decision for himself anyway? Isn't that what power of attorney is all about? Many Alzheimer's patients are incapable of looking out for themselves, in which case it becomes necessary for others to look out for them. What do you think?