Here comes the tinfoil hat brigade!

Over at Real Debate Wisconsin, Fred “watermelon seeds and fried chicken” Dooley’s blog, a contributor using the pseudonym “Golfing Granpa” is opining that a portion of the Affordable Care Act will lead to every U.S. citizen receiving an implanted radio-frequency (RFID) microchip for the purpose of controlling and tracking medical care. Here’s the language from the Affordable Care Act:

“The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the ‘registry’) to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that—‘‘(A) is or has been used in or on a patient; and ‘‘(B) is a class III device; or ‘‘(ii) a class II device that is implantable.”

Apparently “Golfing Grandpa” doesn’t seem to understand that implantable “medical devices” includes devices such as pacemakers, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD), Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD), and artificial hips/knees, among other devices. What’s more, there’s already a registry to track those devices, with the stated goal of improving patient care by providing information on medical devices for patients and their physician.

If you read the portion of the Affordable Care Act that was referenced earlier, it mentions setting up a national medical device registry for the specific purpose of facilitating “analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data” on implanted devices. I don’t know how “Golfing Grandpa” came up with the idea that such a registry would result in all Americans being implanted with RFIDs, because it seems pretty clear to me the intent of registry in question is to track outcomes (whether positive or negative) associated with implanted medical devices.

However straightforward it may seem, apparently the tinfoil hate brigade sees big government everywhere.