President Bush’s former health secretary Tommy Thompson proposes that US citizens have an RFID chip inserted under their skin. Thompson also plans to have a VeriChip inserted in his arm.

The RFID capsules would be linked to a database being created by the Department of Health and Human Services to store and manage the nation’s health records. Thompson believes the capsules could help save thousands of lives every year by making allergic reactions and other critical medical data immediately available to doctors.