Tick Tock, Call The Doc

Dutch manufacturer Biotronik has come up with an SMS enabled pacemaker. The theory is that it can page your doctor directly if there are problems. The first unit was implanted at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. I see two issues with this. First of all, what happened to the theory that cell phones and radios were evil in hospitals because they could affect pacemakers and such? Second, SMS is not exactly a real-time protocol. Text messages can be delayed for hours or days. Ooops, it took Mr. Doctor two days to get the word when my heart stopped. Quel Domage!