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Subject: [Caspian-press-l] CASPIAN Releases New Evidence of VeriChip Lies and Deception

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 June 3, 2008

CASPIAN RELEASES NEW EVIDENCE OF VERICHIP LIES AND DECEPTION
 Group's Latest Report Sets Record Straight on Chip Implants, Cancer, and
 more

 Opponents of the VeriChip implant are launching a new offensive against
 the controversial human microchip this week, amid reports that VeriChip
 plans to put its chipping division on the auction block. A new report
 titled "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions"
 released today by CASPIAN Consumer Privacy reveals dirty laundry the
 company would probably rather keep hidden as it seeks a buyer for its
 beleaguered product.

 The 42-page report was authored by CASPIAN director Dr. Katherine
 Albrecht, a Harvard-educated privacy expert and long-time critic of the
 VeriChip. The highlight of the report is an eleven-page section titled
 "Cancer Cover-up" that describes a systematic pattern of lies and
 deception engaged by VeriChip executives in an effort to downplay the
 fact that implantable microchips cause cancer in laboratory animals.

 The report reveals how news outlets like Time Magazine, Business Week,
 and the RFID Journal were used as unwitting pawns in a VeriChip scheme
 to spread misinformation about the cancer studies. Since research
 linking the product to cancer first surfaced last year, each of these
 publications has repeated misstatements from VeriChip company
 executives, in many cases printing the inaccurate statements verbatim
 and unchallenged.

 "These were not subjective issues, they were plainly verifiable issues
 of fact," Albrecht said. "We were saddened to see the misstatements fall
 through the fact-checking cracks of these respected publications. Now
 that VeriChip is back in the headlines, we felt it was time to set the
 record straight."

 VeriChip's media efforts have done little to salvage the company's
 public image or its financial performance, both of which plummeted after
 research linking the implantable microchip to cancer was widely revealed
 by the Associated Press in September 2007. The same company that once
 predicted revenues in the "billions" earned just $3,000 from its
 microchip implant operations in the first quarter of 2008, as patients
 shun the device that many are now calling the "cancer chip."

 Investors have also distanced themselves from the failing company, with
 VeriChip's stock plummeting from a high of $10.62 last year to just over
 $2.00 today.

 VeriChip's VP of business development, Jay McKeage, acknowledged the
 implant division suffers from "a substantial cash burn" and is "not
 sustainable on its own." As a result, he says, VeriChip plans to "shop
 the VeriMed / Health Link [human implantable chip] business around
 widely" in hopes that another company will take the unpopular product
 off its hands.

 However, with recent blog headlines like "VeriChip Death Watch" making
 the rounds, Albrecht has a hard time imagining who, if anyone, will want
 to buy the business.

 "This is a company that has engaged in a consistent pattern of making
 false and misleading statements," she said. "It has lied to the public,
 to the media, to its shareholders, and to regulatory agencies," she
 said, citing additional evidence from the report indicating that
 VeriChip hid cancer evidence from the FDA when the agency reviewed the
 implant's safety in 2004.

 "We laid out all the evidence in our report," she added. "We want to
 make sure no one else gets burned by VeriChip."

 =============================================================
 ABOUT THE REPORT

 CASPIAN's new report, "Microchip Implants: Answers to Frequently Asked
 Questions," is a comprehensive reference guide to implantable microchips
 in animals and humans. It provides thoroughly-researched, footnoted
 answers to 85 of the most commonly asked questions about the implantable
 microchip, including religious, privacy, social, and health questions.
 The report concludes with a list of recommendations for patients, pet
 owners, and policy makers affected by the device.

 The new report is available for free download on the group's
 AntiChips.com website at:
 http://www.antichips.com/faq/index.html

 While on the website, readers are encouraged to download Dr. Albrecht's
 comprehensive 52-page overview of the studies, "Microchip-Induced Tumors
 in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990-2006,"
 and to review scanned copies of the original documents.

 =============================================================

 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT:
 Dr. Katherine Albrecht [kma (at) spychips.com] 877-287-5854 ext. 1



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 ABOUT CASPIAN

 CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999 and irresponsible RFID use since 2002. With thousands of members in all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their
 privacy and encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.

 http://www.spychips.com/
 http://www.antichips.com/
 http://www.nocards.org/

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