With the Safety Review Still Open, Clinics Slow the Neural Line

GENEVA — The safety review of Somaform Augmetics' neural-interface line remains open and contested, and the uncertainty has migrated from the regulators' chambers to the clinics' waiting rooms. With augmented humans now above five percent of the population, demand for the interface has not slackened — but several implant centers have quietly lengthened their consent windows rather than fit a device whose review has not concluded. At a Geneva clinic, neurologist Dr. Priya Venkatesan now books a second counseling session before any procedure. "The technology may be fine," she said. "But 'may be' is not a thing I install in a person's skull." Somaform maintains the line is safe and the review routine; independent auditors say only that it continues. Bioethicists at the Alpine Geneva Polytechnic call the slowdown a rare case of caution outrunning appetite. "The review is doing its work before the verdict," one said, "by making everyone hesitate."