The Safety Review Nobody Can Close Enters Another Month

BOSTON — The regulator review of neural-interface augmetics that has run all year is, as of this week, still open — neither cleared nor concluded, its hearings adjourning again without a verdict. "People keep asking me when it ends. My honest answer is that a review worth doing does not end on a schedule that suits the news cycle," said bioethicist Dr. Ingrid Vasquez, who has testified twice before the panel. With augmented humans now past five percent of the population, the stakes are no longer niche. Manufacturers press for a timeline; clinicians press for caution; the panel presses on. "The device works for most people most of the time. The review exists for the gap between 'most' and 'all,' and that gap is where you find the person," Vasquez said. She resists both the boosters and the alarmists. "Neither 'perfectly safe' nor 'obviously dangerous' is true, and the review's job is to sit in the uncomfortable middle until the evidence settles." It has not settled yet.