Monday, November 15, 2004

Viagra (and other drugs) getting the RFID treatment. The FDA and a bunch of the big pharmaceutical companies are about to announce a plan today to cut back on drug counterfeiting by putting RFID tags on bottles for pills like Viagra and OxyContin (which for pretty obvious reasons are among the most abused, counterfeited, and stolen medications in the country). Pharmacists would be able to wave an RFID reader and instantly see whether the bottle has been and whether the medication is counterfeit or not. Privacy advocates are already up in arms, since conceivably you could have a situation where an employer could install an RFID scanner and know which medications their employees were carrying around without actually having to search their bags or whatever (though if you’re that worried about people knowing that you’re popping Viagra, you might want to either leave it at home or put it into a non-RFID tagged bottle. [Engadget] 1:19:09 PM   comments[]

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