According to a study published in JAMA, radio frequency identification tags (RFID) used in critical care units in hospitals such as syringe staplers and blood bags, can interfere with life-saving equipment and machines.
Dutch researchers conducted 123 tests of 2 types of RFID tags on 41 medical devices in an unused room at a university medical centre intensive care unit not involving patients and found 34 cases of electromagnetic interferences, 22 of which would have been life-threatening.
An accompanying editorial said the study will need to be conducted with patients present in order to get a true understanding of the problem. However, the co-author of the study argued that these tests could endanger the patients.
Source: "Electromagnetic Interference From Radio Frequency Identification Inducing Potentially Hazardous Incidents in Critical Care Medical Equipment" JAMA. 2008;299(24):2884-2890. (Full text via Athens)
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