- Drexel Medical College uses Algorand to store patient medical records as NFTs
- The Nemus NFT project “asked the barely readable indigenous people to sign the document without clarifying its contents or providing a copy,” the prosecutor said.
We know a lot about whether NFTs have real-world use cases. But just because a use case exists doesn’t mean you should use it.
Facebook is about to bring NFT (Non-Fungible Token) digital art applications to users, and two new NFT use cases made waves this week, for contrasting reasons. NFTs have given patients ownership of their medical records, but Amazon’s rainforest conservation NFTs face the problem of how they got the land to sell.
Blockchain healthcare company MaPay and Drexel University School of Medicine are using the layer 1 blockchain Algorand to store patient medical records as NFTs. Currently, healthcare providers themselves keep medical records, making searching paper records and selling patient medical data expensive and time consuming.
At a basic level, NFTs store and demonstrate ownership of digital items without third parties. Putting healthcare data on the blockchain gives patients ownership of their records.
Drexel Medical School Vice President Charles Cairns believes the future of the healthcare industry lies in blockchain technology.
“This initiative will make a difference, especially in underserved areas. He spoke after
NEMS and its “irreplaceable realms”
Nemus, an NFT mint linked to Amazonian rainforest protection, is in trouble after Brazilian prosecutors announced an investigation into the company’s Amazonian land ownership.
Nemus CEO Flavio De Meira Penna has several entrepreneurial ventures in Brazil focused on protecting rainforests. Nemus claims he owns 100,000 acres of Amazon rainforest and hopes to buy more with funds from NFT sales. The company did not respond to requests for confirmation of ownership of the land.
Users can purchase NFTs representing parcels of land on the map, knowing that Nemus will protect the land and its indigenous peoples.
Nemus says it is clear that users do not own physical land due to restrictions under Brazilian law, and instead the company holds the land. But even that much ownership may be wishful thinking.
Prosecutors from Brazil’s federal public ministry announced last week that Nemus has 15 days to prove ownership of the land after indigenous people said they were tricked into selling it to the NFT project.
“The company delivered signs written in English to the villages and asked the barely readable natives to sign the documents without clarifying the contents or providing copies,” the prosecution wrote.
Nemus and Drexel Medical College mark a new frontier in the debate around NFT use cases. Sean Steinsmith, an assistant professor at Lehman College, who writes about digital assets, believes the debate over the usefulness of NFT technology is already over.
“We would like to wait for the ‘real-world applications’ of NFTs, but those applications are here,” said Smith. “‘Do they generate benefits from an economic and broader social perspective?’ Ultimately is how any project should be judged.”
Nemus did not respond to a request for comment.
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Jack Kubinek
block works
editorial intern
