Musk brain implant company violated US hazardous material transport
rules -documents
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[January 27, 2024]
By Marisa Taylor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink was
fined for violating U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules
regarding the movement of hazardous materials, according to records from
the federal agency reviewed by Reuters.
During inspections of the company's facilities in Texas and California
in February 2023, DOT investigators found the company had failed to
register itself as a transporter of hazardous material, the agency's
records show.
They also found improper packaging of hazardous waste, including the
flammable liquid Xylene. Xylene can cause headaches, dizziness,
confusion, loss of muscle coordination and even death, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DOT fined the company a total of $2,480, an amount lower than what was
initially assessed because the company agreed to fix the problems, the
records show.
A spokesperson with Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, the DOT agency that investigated Neuralink, confirmed
the violations and fine, and said the inquiry is now closed.
Neuralink did not respond to questions.
Reuters reviewed the records detailing the violations from the
Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an advocacy group
that opposes the use of animals in medical research. PCRM obtained the
documents through an open records request.
The records do not say why Neuralink would need to transport hazardous
materials or whether any harm resulted from the violations.
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Neuralink logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration
taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Neuralink received U.S. Food and
Drug Administration clearance last year for its first trial to test
the company's implant in humans, a critical milestone for the
startup. Reuters reported in June that the company was valued as
high as $5 billion, based on private stock trades.
Neuralink announced in September that the trial will evaluate the
safety of its implant for enabling people with paralysis to control
external devices with their thoughts.
During the study, a robot developed by the company will surgically
place the implants' "ultra-fine" threads that help transmit signals
in participants' brains, the company said.
The DOT inquiry was launched last year after Reuters reported that
Neuralink employees made internal complaints about animal
experiments being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths.
"Neuralink's violations once again reveal the company's sloppy,
unsafe practices," said Ryan Merkley, PCRM's director of research
advocacy.
PCRM had written to DOT last year to say that Neuralink in 2019 may
have transported brain implants used in its monkey experiments
without proper containment measures. The implants may have been
contaminated with antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus and herpes B
virus, the group said.
DOT found no evidence that Neuralink had shipped anything containing
an infectious substance, the new records reviewed by Reuters said.
(Reporting by Marisa Taylor; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill
Berkrot)
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