Only in America…

Came across this one in this week’s edition of the BMJ (British Medical Journal).

You’ve heard of the Palm Pilot: well, now we have the Palm Pistol – “an ergonomically innovative single shot double action only defensive firearm”.

It gets worse. It’s being specifically sold as “ideal for seniors, disabled or others who may have limited strength or manual dexterity”. In other words, a gun specifically for the aged (or demented, more like).

It gets worse again. The manufacturers have formally applied for “medical equipment coding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services”, so that the gun can be prescribed by doctors as an aid to “extension of life expectancy” and “prevention of sudden onset death”, fully paid for by the state.

And yes, it gets worse again, because, as reported at MedGadget, some lunatic at the FDA (US Food and Drugs Administration) actually approved the thing:

The handgun will be listed as a Class I Medical Device, exempt from 510(k) Pre-Market Notification in accordance with 21 CFR 890.5050 “Daily Activity Assist Device.”

Only in America, perhaps, could anyone be so insane as to describe an instrument of intentional murder as a “Class 1 Medical Device”.

Yikes…

[Update: seems there is some sanity in the world after all: in a later blog-entry, MedGadget reports that the FDA have now rescinded their initial approval, with a rather lame assertion that they’d been misinformed by the manufacturers. Hmm…]