<nettime> Fwd: American Medical Association Recommends Warning Tattoos for Children

[Bruce Sterling <bruces@well.com>]

*What about the multiple language versions -- bruces

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "futurefeedforward" <fff@futurefeedforward.com>
> Date: Sun Apr 13, 2003  05:38:02 PM US/Central
> To: bruces@well.com
> Subject: American Medical Association Recommends Warning Tattoos for 
> Children
>
>
> August 24, 2031
>
> American Medical Association Recommends Warning Tattoos for Children
>
> CHICAGO--The most recent edition of the American Medical
> Association's Guide to Pediatric Health published
> Wednesday recommends that all children under the age of
> eight receive a series of reactive, low half-life tattoos
> containing essential preventative health information.
> "These guidelines aren't just about delivering vital
> health information," explains Dr. Raymond Tritness,
> co-author of the recommendation and Director of the
> Insurance Industry Association's medical malpractice
> working group.  "They're about using information to
> intervene proactively at the moment a child might engage in
> risky or unhealthful behavior."
>
> The recommended tattoos, including the admonition "Not to
> be Put in Eye" to be inscribed on the thumb and index finger of
> each hand, are based upon detailed actuarial analyses of
> the 1,200 most commonly reported childhood injuries and
> disorders.  "We took great efforts to really boil down the
> set of warning messages related to injuries," notes Dr.
> Tritness.  "A few key labels--such as 'To be Kept Inside the
> Vehicle at all Times' for the arms and legs--aim to prevent a
> whole host of common injuries."
>
> The guidelines also call for the aggressive use of 'dermal
> informatics,' a set of newly developed techniques for
> creating programmable tattoos capable of responding to
> signals from the nervous and circulatory systems.  Key
> recommendations include real-time pulse, blood sugar and
> body temperature tattoos.  "We recommended that tattoos
> monitoring vital functions be located on the throat, back
> of the neck, or in some other location easily monitored by a
> parent," notes the Guide.  "A caregiver's ready access to
> contemporaneous vital information significantly
> increases the likelihood of the early detection of
> illness, infection, and other disorders."  The authors
> also recommend a number of other reactive tattoos,
> including a bacteria-sensitive 'Wash Me' for the back of
> each hand.
>
> Finalized after a six-month period of public comment and
> review, the guidelines faced intense criticism from
> family and religious groups.  "Frankly, we are concerned
> that [the committee] did not seriously consider the real
> concerns of the majority of parents," notes Imogene Duck,
> Health Director at Focus on the Family.  "We presented a
> serious, practical case for a 'Not to be Touched
> Excessively' label for the genital area, but were rebuffed
> at every corner."
>
> Medical and insurance industry watchdog groups have
> pointed to the guidelines as an attempt to decrease the
> liability of doctors and medical insurers.  "We're on a real
> slippery slope," opines Joseph Fimlan, spokesman for
> Doctors Without Order.  "Once these tattoos are widespread
> it'll only be a matter of months until we hear malpractice
> defense counsel arguing that their clients aren't
> responsible because the patients were put on notice by the
> warnings in these tattoos.  It's ridiculous, but it's
> coming."
>
> Responding to such criticism, Dr. Tritness emphasized the
> public nature of the guidelines development process and
> noted that the recommendations will continue to be
> scrutinized and revised in subsequent editions of the
> Guide.
>
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