When I was an employee of Suspended Animation, I fully intended to be the perfusionist on call, 48 weeks of the year. I'm not sure how that would have worked out, because at some point, as I recall, Platt, whom Kent insisted on having as a "Team Leader," said he wouldn't do cases with me. (Fancy that...Kent found a science fiction writer preferable to a qualified perfusionist, as a cryonics care provider.) Prior to that time, when I suggested we contract with a Florida-based perfusion group, to cover for my four vacation weeks, I was scoffed at, and told "real medical professionals won't work with us." I was also told it was "too expensive," so imagine my surprise, when SA contracted with the very same group for 52 weeks a year, and leased equipment from them. Recently, in a Cold Filter post, Steve Harris remarked on how expensive this is. Call me crazy, but if it means getting rid of a RUP, or two, to have qualified perfusionists at cryonics cases, that is what should be done.
I've been acquainted with a person who helps run that perfusion group, for quite a few years. When I found out they contracted with SA, I did contact him. I told him I was happy cryonics patients would have qualified perfusionists, but I also told him I thought he should be aware of what he might be getting into. Specifically, I said his perfusionists should be prepared to go to cases without anyone capable of performing a femoral cannulation, which is exactly what did happen. I also said they should either investigate the legalities of carrying certain drugs across state lines, or be cautious of carrying any of SA's luggage. I don't believe SA has done their homework, in regard to who may carry and/or administer certain medications they are using. I am not the only one to express this concern, Mr. Ettinger has also mentioned it, and I wouldn't want any of my fellow perfusionists to end up in jail, or ruin their careers, because SA might be pretending to be more "legitimate" than they really are.
When the Johnson book hit the shelves, I happened to notice that Suspended Animation was naming the perfusion group, on the SA website, and I became concerned. I thought it odd that SA refuses to name their own staff members, but was naming the perfusion group. (Is SA ashamed of their staff members, or are the staff members ashamed of cryonics? I suspect both.) I called my acquaintance, again, and asked him if he was aware of the book, or that his company was named on the SA website. He said he was not aware, of either, and seemed appropriately concerned about both. Personally, I think SA should have informed the perfusionists of the book and asked their permission to name the company on the website. If "FD," over on Cold Filter, wants to call my concern for my fellow perfusionists a "dirty trick," so be it, but in my opinion, they deserve the right to protect their identities, as much as, OR MORE THAN, the SA staff members, especially in light of the Johnson book, which implicates several people, with close ties to SA, in unethical behaviors.
The person I spoke to asked me how I got involved in cryonics politics. I told him I got involved because I thought cryonics patients deserved better care than what they were getting, and that I felt a lot of people were "scamming" the people funding the cryonics industry, by sending a bunch of laymen to botch femoral cannulations and perfusion attempts. His response? "Well, they're already dead, aren't they?" and "Everybody who pays for it knows there's little likelihood this will ever work, don't they?"
To be honest, the only objection I have to the first remark is that it indicates that person would not ever object to substandard care being given to cryonics patients, no matter how atrocious. In other words, if they arrived at procedures, for the next two decades, and there was never a good cannulation, or someone asked them to do something insane, (like deliver 17 liters of fluid to a patient, when there was no venous return), they wouldn't say anything.
As for the second remark, my response was, "Take a hike on the Suspended Animation website, and tell me you don't think they are misrepresenting the quality of their services to the people who are buying them." He didn't have anything to say about that, and I'm pretty sure he had never visited the SA website.
He told me he "...never had any problem with them, other than like you said, they can't do a femoral cannulation..." What does this mean? I think it means his group gets paid promptly, for providing perfusionists for training sessions and cases, and for leasing equipment, to SA. I was under the distinct impression he didn't really care about anything other than that. As he said, "They're (the patients) are already dead, aren't they?"
If I were managing a cryonics care facility, I wouldn't have any problem with hiring qualified perfusionists, even if they thought cryonics was the biggest joke, in the universe, as long as I felt they would properly perform their duties. However, to provide qualified perfusionists, without anyone to perform the cannulations they need, in order to properly perform perfusion, is just a waste of money, and sending only people who won't object to what I would call "malpractice," because the patients "are already dead," is not going to lead to progress. Someone involved has to give a damn about something other than the money.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Alcor vs. Johnson and Vanguard Press
Go to http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/FCASMain
Click on "Index Search"
Enter "113938/2009" in the "Index Number" space and click on "Find Case(s).
Click on the Index Number, and then click on "Show eFiled Documents"
You will be able to read all of the court documents, in the Alcor vs. Vanguard Press and Larry Johnson. Personally, I think Mr. Yalowitz (Vanguard) and Ms. Wang (Johnson) are extremely sharp and have made excellent arguments. I think Mr. Bauer (Alcor) is probably doing the best he can, with what he has to work with.
Alcor seems to be relying on several arguments that hold little validity, in my opinion. They want to make the "trade secrets" argument, but I think it's pretty clear that the only "trade secret" they have may be their vitrification solution recipe, and Johnson hasn't revealed that to anyone, as far as I know. I think it will be difficult for them to argue "trade secrets," when they have been singing the "transparency" song for so long, and have published almost every detail of their operations and procedures, on the Internet.
There's the related issue of them claiming Johnson has provided the public with information that may give their competition an unfair advantage. That's just plain silly, as there really is no competition, other than, maybe, CI, and I don't think Johnson gave CI any information they didn't already have. In fact, Ben Best was recently at Alcor, where they supposedly asked him to sign an NDA, and showed him around. In other words, they may have allowed their only competition to come in the Alcor facility and view whatever it is they are claiming as "trade secrets." In addition, many people with connections to Alcor have claimed that Johnson's publicity has HELPED Alcor gain an increase in membership, in the past.
Then, Alcor resorts to the NDA, and other related issues. Their attorneys state that Platt "unequivocally" claims Johnson signed an NDA, but he did no such thing, and Johnson's attorney picked right up on that. As she writes, Platt carefully parsed his words in a manner that would avoid possibly committing perjury. He states he called someone at Alcor, and asked them to look in Johnson's employee file, for an NDA. I can only imagine this same thing happened, when he accused me of stealing a non-existent NDA, at SA. Johnson's attorney, apparently, has an imagination similar to mine, and has done her homework. She includes the agreement/apology, Platt posted on CF and Cryonet, in response to my threats to take legal action, in regard to the lies and/or malicious "speculations" that were being made, in attempts to discredit me, (See her "Exhibit 9).
Finally, Alcor wants to cry about the restraining orders against Johnson, but it appears they never properly served him. Johnson's attorney points out that a process server relayed to Alcor that the address where he was to be served was a "bad address," but Alcor proceeded to send Certified Mail there, and when it wasn't returned, put forth that Johnson had been properly served.
It should be interesting to find out what the judge thinks of these motions, in tomorrow's hearing. So far, I have the score as "Johnson 2, Alcor 0." Regardless of the outcome, the book is out and Johnson has already made the interview rounds. All Alcor is doing, in my opinion, is wasting a lot of money, making themselves look deceptive and foolish, and promoting Johnson's book.
Click on "Index Search"
Enter "113938/2009" in the "Index Number" space and click on "Find Case(s).
Click on the Index Number, and then click on "Show eFiled Documents"
You will be able to read all of the court documents, in the Alcor vs. Vanguard Press and Larry Johnson. Personally, I think Mr. Yalowitz (Vanguard) and Ms. Wang (Johnson) are extremely sharp and have made excellent arguments. I think Mr. Bauer (Alcor) is probably doing the best he can, with what he has to work with.
Alcor seems to be relying on several arguments that hold little validity, in my opinion. They want to make the "trade secrets" argument, but I think it's pretty clear that the only "trade secret" they have may be their vitrification solution recipe, and Johnson hasn't revealed that to anyone, as far as I know. I think it will be difficult for them to argue "trade secrets," when they have been singing the "transparency" song for so long, and have published almost every detail of their operations and procedures, on the Internet.
There's the related issue of them claiming Johnson has provided the public with information that may give their competition an unfair advantage. That's just plain silly, as there really is no competition, other than, maybe, CI, and I don't think Johnson gave CI any information they didn't already have. In fact, Ben Best was recently at Alcor, where they supposedly asked him to sign an NDA, and showed him around. In other words, they may have allowed their only competition to come in the Alcor facility and view whatever it is they are claiming as "trade secrets." In addition, many people with connections to Alcor have claimed that Johnson's publicity has HELPED Alcor gain an increase in membership, in the past.
Then, Alcor resorts to the NDA, and other related issues. Their attorneys state that Platt "unequivocally" claims Johnson signed an NDA, but he did no such thing, and Johnson's attorney picked right up on that. As she writes, Platt carefully parsed his words in a manner that would avoid possibly committing perjury. He states he called someone at Alcor, and asked them to look in Johnson's employee file, for an NDA. I can only imagine this same thing happened, when he accused me of stealing a non-existent NDA, at SA. Johnson's attorney, apparently, has an imagination similar to mine, and has done her homework. She includes the agreement/apology, Platt posted on CF and Cryonet, in response to my threats to take legal action, in regard to the lies and/or malicious "speculations" that were being made, in attempts to discredit me, (See her "Exhibit 9).
Finally, Alcor wants to cry about the restraining orders against Johnson, but it appears they never properly served him. Johnson's attorney points out that a process server relayed to Alcor that the address where he was to be served was a "bad address," but Alcor proceeded to send Certified Mail there, and when it wasn't returned, put forth that Johnson had been properly served.
It should be interesting to find out what the judge thinks of these motions, in tomorrow's hearing. So far, I have the score as "Johnson 2, Alcor 0." Regardless of the outcome, the book is out and Johnson has already made the interview rounds. All Alcor is doing, in my opinion, is wasting a lot of money, making themselves look deceptive and foolish, and promoting Johnson's book.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Cryonics Institute "Neuros" Better Than Alcor
What's that you say? CI doesn't do neuros? Au contraire, mon ami.
I believe most of CI's patients are "neuros." They isolate the head vessels, so the brain can be selectively-perfused with cryoprotective agents. This is superior to Alcor's practices, for several reasons, but the two major ones are:
1. CI's procedures are relatively simple vascular cannulations performed by a licensed embalmer, as opposed to Alcor's decapitations, which I'm told are often performed by staff members with little more than high school diplomas and overblown egos. (The word "megalomania" comes to mind.) This is a HUGE public relations mistake, if nothing else. I think it probably qualifies as "mutilation," and wonder why Alcor wasn't shut down a long time ago.
2. A decapitation results in a LOT of vascular damage, which most likely results in poor perfusion, (especially when carried out by laymen wielding Craftsman hammers and praying for electric carving knives). Read the Ted Williams case report, in the Johnson book, and you will see they documented the perfusate was coming out from virtually everywhere EXCEPT where it was supposed to be, and my guess is, this has probably been true for most of their cases.
I believe most of CI's patients are "neuros." They isolate the head vessels, so the brain can be selectively-perfused with cryoprotective agents. This is superior to Alcor's practices, for several reasons, but the two major ones are:
1. CI's procedures are relatively simple vascular cannulations performed by a licensed embalmer, as opposed to Alcor's decapitations, which I'm told are often performed by staff members with little more than high school diplomas and overblown egos. (The word "megalomania" comes to mind.) This is a HUGE public relations mistake, if nothing else. I think it probably qualifies as "mutilation," and wonder why Alcor wasn't shut down a long time ago.
2. A decapitation results in a LOT of vascular damage, which most likely results in poor perfusion, (especially when carried out by laymen wielding Craftsman hammers and praying for electric carving knives). Read the Ted Williams case report, in the Johnson book, and you will see they documented the perfusate was coming out from virtually everywhere EXCEPT where it was supposed to be, and my guess is, this has probably been true for most of their cases.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Bill Faloon is Just as Much of a "Sensationalist" as Larry Johnson
In response to this article, by William Faloon, of Life Extension Foundation: http://www.depressedmetabolism.com/2009/10/16/death-is-gruesome/
I've been wondering, for nearly three years, now, if Bill Faloon was actually aware of the situation at the organizations he has been funding. I even sent a letter to his house, not that long ago, (which went unanswered, of course). Now, he appears with nothing more than the usual "smoke and mirrors" that have spewed forth from Alcor, and the LEF-funded organizations, for decades.
Faloon is comparing cryonics patients to people are being embalmed, buried, cremated, autopsied or decomposing, instead of to patients who undergo circulatory arrest procedures, in conventional medicine, and wake up again. There is no reason for anyone to be concerned with the "gruesomeness" of death, in a cryonics context. Unlike cryonics patients, no one expects the people who are being embalmed, buried, cremated, autopsied or decomposing, to wake up again!!! His entire comparison, (though quite eloquent), is absurd and meaningless. In fact, it's so ridiculous, I can barely bring myself to respond to it. (Maybe he felt the same, about my letter.)
Cryonics has a solid foundation in the hypothermic procedures, which have been performed by heart teams, for many decades. I participated in these procedures, for nearly a decade, myself. There is nothing "gruesome" about performing cannulations and perfusion, (the procedures SA and ALCOR are attempting to perform). Most of the time, it's barely even messy! Why does Faloon want to pretend that the only alternatives to the amateurish cryonics procedures he and his friends have been providing to cryonics patients, are the gruesome processes of death, when the logical alternative is to hire competent individuals who can provide quality patient care equivalent to that provided in conventional hypothermic procedures performed on the living?
(Note: Yes, I realize the "neuros" will be "gruesome", regardless, and personally, I am against the industry decapitating patients. CI, technically, performs "neuros," without decapitation, by isolating the head vessels. If ALCOR insists on doing "neuros," they should consider that route. Even if they insist on decapitation, I don't believe it needs to be anywhere near as gruesome and insane as what I have read about in ALCOR's case reports, but what else can we expect when people, sometimes with nothing more than high school diplomas and maybe a little "OJT," are allowed to chop off heads?)
Faloon: "Reality is that cryopreservation involves complex surgery whereby tubes are inserted into major arteries and veins in order to deliver special anti-freeze solutions into the brain."
The actual reality is that Suspended Animation, (the company Faloon helps fund through Life Extension Foundation, and which is but a short distance from Faloon's home), has been attempting to provide the most simple version of cannulation and perfusion, and failing miserably, for seven years, now. In spite of a grossly-extravagant payroll, they don't even have a staff member who is capable of competently inserting the tubes (cannulae) into major arteries and veins, (performing a femoral cannulation), or performing perfusion. If I were to tell any of the people I have worked with, in heart surgery, that one of the most prominent figures in cryonics is trying to pass off a femoral cannulation and the simple perfusion SA is attempting to perform, as "complex," they would laugh.
Faloon: "Cryonics is merely less gruesome than anything else that is done to a corpse."
Again, Faloon is comparing cryonics patients to corpses, while I would prefer to compare them to my patients in heart surgery, people who had plans to wake up again, after they were cannulated and perfused, (and 96-97% of them did).
Faloon: "I hope this essay helps put cryo-preservation in perspective with more mutilating and appalling forms of disposition that deceased humans are exposed to every day. It should serve to educate the media that ALCOR patients are not being mutilated or “abused” by the complex protocols that are used to provide them with the best scientific opportunity of future revival, whatever the probability may be."
Can Bill Faloon explain exactly why he is willing to fund hiring just about anyone off the street to perform what he calls "complex (medical) protocols," instead of insisting on the hiring of competent professionals? ALCOR patients, and Suspended Animation patients ARE being abused, by the amateurs who "play doctor" with them, and I believe any medical professional who has worked in conventional medicine, performing vascular cannulations and/or perfusion, would testify to that. The Ted Williams case report is only one example of the abuse, and there are plenty of others. http://cryomedical.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-of-alleged-ted-williams-case.html (This is not the full report, but the rest of it is just as ridiculously insane.)
I'm still left wondering if Bill Faloon actually knows how atrocious the level of patient care ALCOR and Suspended Animation provide really is. He's either deceptive or in denial, or he doesn't have a clue as to how good these procedures COULD be. He's seen cannulations and perfusion in the context of death, but I've seen them in the context of life. Which do cryonicists want, at the time of their "legal death"...something of the quality that dead people receive, or cannulations and perfusion of a quality such as that provided in heart surgery, (where 96-97% of the patients wake up again)?
I've been wondering, for nearly three years, now, if Bill Faloon was actually aware of the situation at the organizations he has been funding. I even sent a letter to his house, not that long ago, (which went unanswered, of course). Now, he appears with nothing more than the usual "smoke and mirrors" that have spewed forth from Alcor, and the LEF-funded organizations, for decades.
Faloon is comparing cryonics patients to people are being embalmed, buried, cremated, autopsied or decomposing, instead of to patients who undergo circulatory arrest procedures, in conventional medicine, and wake up again. There is no reason for anyone to be concerned with the "gruesomeness" of death, in a cryonics context. Unlike cryonics patients, no one expects the people who are being embalmed, buried, cremated, autopsied or decomposing, to wake up again!!! His entire comparison, (though quite eloquent), is absurd and meaningless. In fact, it's so ridiculous, I can barely bring myself to respond to it. (Maybe he felt the same, about my letter.)
Cryonics has a solid foundation in the hypothermic procedures, which have been performed by heart teams, for many decades. I participated in these procedures, for nearly a decade, myself. There is nothing "gruesome" about performing cannulations and perfusion, (the procedures SA and ALCOR are attempting to perform). Most of the time, it's barely even messy! Why does Faloon want to pretend that the only alternatives to the amateurish cryonics procedures he and his friends have been providing to cryonics patients, are the gruesome processes of death, when the logical alternative is to hire competent individuals who can provide quality patient care equivalent to that provided in conventional hypothermic procedures performed on the living?
(Note: Yes, I realize the "neuros" will be "gruesome", regardless, and personally, I am against the industry decapitating patients. CI, technically, performs "neuros," without decapitation, by isolating the head vessels. If ALCOR insists on doing "neuros," they should consider that route. Even if they insist on decapitation, I don't believe it needs to be anywhere near as gruesome and insane as what I have read about in ALCOR's case reports, but what else can we expect when people, sometimes with nothing more than high school diplomas and maybe a little "OJT," are allowed to chop off heads?)
Faloon: "Reality is that cryopreservation involves complex surgery whereby tubes are inserted into major arteries and veins in order to deliver special anti-freeze solutions into the brain."
The actual reality is that Suspended Animation, (the company Faloon helps fund through Life Extension Foundation, and which is but a short distance from Faloon's home), has been attempting to provide the most simple version of cannulation and perfusion, and failing miserably, for seven years, now. In spite of a grossly-extravagant payroll, they don't even have a staff member who is capable of competently inserting the tubes (cannulae) into major arteries and veins, (performing a femoral cannulation), or performing perfusion. If I were to tell any of the people I have worked with, in heart surgery, that one of the most prominent figures in cryonics is trying to pass off a femoral cannulation and the simple perfusion SA is attempting to perform, as "complex," they would laugh.
Faloon: "Cryonics is merely less gruesome than anything else that is done to a corpse."
Again, Faloon is comparing cryonics patients to corpses, while I would prefer to compare them to my patients in heart surgery, people who had plans to wake up again, after they were cannulated and perfused, (and 96-97% of them did).
Faloon: "I hope this essay helps put cryo-preservation in perspective with more mutilating and appalling forms of disposition that deceased humans are exposed to every day. It should serve to educate the media that ALCOR patients are not being mutilated or “abused” by the complex protocols that are used to provide them with the best scientific opportunity of future revival, whatever the probability may be."
Can Bill Faloon explain exactly why he is willing to fund hiring just about anyone off the street to perform what he calls "complex (medical) protocols," instead of insisting on the hiring of competent professionals? ALCOR patients, and Suspended Animation patients ARE being abused, by the amateurs who "play doctor" with them, and I believe any medical professional who has worked in conventional medicine, performing vascular cannulations and/or perfusion, would testify to that. The Ted Williams case report is only one example of the abuse, and there are plenty of others. http://cryomedical.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-of-alleged-ted-williams-case.html (This is not the full report, but the rest of it is just as ridiculously insane.)
I'm still left wondering if Bill Faloon actually knows how atrocious the level of patient care ALCOR and Suspended Animation provide really is. He's either deceptive or in denial, or he doesn't have a clue as to how good these procedures COULD be. He's seen cannulations and perfusion in the context of death, but I've seen them in the context of life. Which do cryonicists want, at the time of their "legal death"...something of the quality that dead people receive, or cannulations and perfusion of a quality such as that provided in heart surgery, (where 96-97% of the patients wake up again)?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Most Lame Excuse in Cryonics
It appears, to me, Alcor keeps eight-to-nine fulltime staff members. During the time I was working in cryonics, Suspended Animation (SA) had between six and nine fulltime staff members, (some left, new ones were added), At last count, the anonymous souls at SA numbered six. I believe Critical Care Research (CCR) has four. In addition to these approximately 18 people, there's a lot of money paid to consultants with little-to-no medical and/or scientific education, or experience. What are all these people doing, 40 hours a week? (My guess, based on personal experience is that a lot of them are doing, "not much of anything productive, if anything, at all.")
Alcor recently used the excuse that:
"With only a few cryonics cases scattered across the county (sic) every year, having cryonics-trained medical professions always nearby to perform field stabilization is impossible." http://alcor.org/Library/html/professionals.html
This is an excuse I've heard time, and time again, in cryonics, and that is all it is...an excuse. In most cases, it is just as impossible for them to have their medically UNQUALIFIED personnel, nearby! Cryonicists would be much more wise to make their own local arrangements, for friends, their personal physician and a local mortician to place them in the ice bath, administer and circulate the meds, and ship them on dry ice, than to pay those whiz-kids from SA, (which Alcor now uses as a stabilization team), $60K to travel from South Florida to bungle the cannulation for the washout procedure they are selling, but can't competently provide.
With so few cases, Alcor and LEF should quit paying so many unqualified people to sit around their facilities, 40 hours a week, and use that money to keep some qualified medical professionals on retainer. As for that "cryonics training," it's pretty much a "no-brainer" for medical professionals who know how to perform cannulations and perfusion. They could save a lot of money on training sessions,(that, in my opinion, don't accomplish much of anything), by hiring people who already know what they are doing. (For example, how much has SA spent on those pig-training sessions and the time of unqualified staff members, trying to teach cannulations, when they could have an embalmer competent in performing that procedure, for about half the cost of one of their unqualified staff members?)
SA and Alcor are spending millions of dollars a year. SA wants to charge $60K, and Alcor wants to charge $150K, for their services, and they end up looking like clowns, 99.99% of the time. It would cost a lot less for them to actually provide quality services, than it costs for their lame attempts to make it look like they are providing quality services, when it is abundantly obvious they are not.
Alcor recently used the excuse that:
"With only a few cryonics cases scattered across the county (sic) every year, having cryonics-trained medical professions always nearby to perform field stabilization is impossible." http://alcor.org/Library/html/professionals.html
This is an excuse I've heard time, and time again, in cryonics, and that is all it is...an excuse. In most cases, it is just as impossible for them to have their medically UNQUALIFIED personnel, nearby! Cryonicists would be much more wise to make their own local arrangements, for friends, their personal physician and a local mortician to place them in the ice bath, administer and circulate the meds, and ship them on dry ice, than to pay those whiz-kids from SA, (which Alcor now uses as a stabilization team), $60K to travel from South Florida to bungle the cannulation for the washout procedure they are selling, but can't competently provide.
With so few cases, Alcor and LEF should quit paying so many unqualified people to sit around their facilities, 40 hours a week, and use that money to keep some qualified medical professionals on retainer. As for that "cryonics training," it's pretty much a "no-brainer" for medical professionals who know how to perform cannulations and perfusion. They could save a lot of money on training sessions,(that, in my opinion, don't accomplish much of anything), by hiring people who already know what they are doing. (For example, how much has SA spent on those pig-training sessions and the time of unqualified staff members, trying to teach cannulations, when they could have an embalmer competent in performing that procedure, for about half the cost of one of their unqualified staff members?)
SA and Alcor are spending millions of dollars a year. SA wants to charge $60K, and Alcor wants to charge $150K, for their services, and they end up looking like clowns, 99.99% of the time. It would cost a lot less for them to actually provide quality services, than it costs for their lame attempts to make it look like they are providing quality services, when it is abundantly obvious they are not.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Review of Alleged Ted Williams Case Reports Printed in Johnson's Book
Someone related to Ted Williams recently asked for my remarks on the alleged case report for Ted Williams, which was printed in Larry Johnson's book. There are too many spelling and grammatical errors to make sense of much of it but, in my opinion, it clearly paints yet another very clear image of the glaring incompetency rampant in cryonics. Even laymen should be able to see the unprofessionalism in most of it. From the alleged TW case notes, published in Johnson's book:
"Mike is trying to do something on the right." (Brilliant record taking!)
"Mike needs a curving knife!" (No comment necessary.)
"Mike is trying to seal up (the tubes?)" (This person does not have a clue what she is describing, other than Alcor's incompetent staff hacking someone's head off and trying to perfuse it.)
"They are trying to open up some part on the front neck..." (More of the same.)
"...Mike murmured "We need electric curving knife..." (Maybe Mike should have been a chef.)
"The head was completely detouched." (No comment necessary.)
"Mike said lots of drainage coming out from everywhere but not from the jugular..." (If this is accurate, it seems blood was coming out from everywhere EXCEPT where it was supposed to be.)
"Brian said we are not getting any cryoprotectant in the venous. Mike back to the head." (It seems they were putting cryoprotectant in the arterial side, but it wasn't coming out the venous side, as it should.)
"Mike called Jose. Jose came back in. (It seemed to me Jose didn't complete his job.)" (How would Erico Narita know if anyone had completed a surgical task? Her notes make it quite clear she has little knowledge of the procedures and equipment. Throughout the report, I believe she uses various terms, such as "canyon," for "cannula." If Alcor assigns their note-taking to someone who has yet to master the English language, (much less applicable medical terminology), how can we even begin to trust them to assign medical tasks to the appropriate personnel?)
The pressure changes, the pump "making funny noises," Mike noticing one of the tubes is "not getting any fluid," the "reflectometer" that "had air" all seem to indicate air was pumped during the case, (something I'm told happens during most cryopreservations, a grossly negligent perfusion error that has been virtually non-existent, in conventional medicine, for decades).
"No air is coming out from the left side as well, Brian noted." (Just guessing from the phrasing, I would say "No" was supposed to be "Now." Either way, it most likely indicates that air was being pumped into, and exiting the vessels, at some point in time...a definite perfusion "no no.")
"The part of the flowrate was incorrect, because bypass line was open." (There's a bypass line that should be closed, when flowing to the patient. When the bypass line is open, a portion of the flow that is supposed to be going to the patient is being diverted to the venous (return) line, without ever reaching the patient. It's not clear when they turned on the perfusion pump, as it's not always clear as to what flows and/or pressures they are referring to, but they document starting the ramping of the cryoprotectant agent, at 22:02. No one noticed the bypass line was open, (a perfusion error), until sometime between 23:21 and 23:27, more than an hour later (79-85 minutes later). Does this seem acceptable for a company that had been in existence for approximately THREE DECADES??? Does this seem like a company that should expect people to believe they can preserve the "legally dead" well enough to be awakened in the future??? Would YOU pay THEM $150K to take perform your cryopreservation?
(The "Mike" being referred to is Michael "Mike Darwin" Federowicz.)
"Mike is trying to do something on the right." (Brilliant record taking!)
"Mike needs a curving knife!" (No comment necessary.)
"Mike is trying to seal up (the tubes?)" (This person does not have a clue what she is describing, other than Alcor's incompetent staff hacking someone's head off and trying to perfuse it.)
"They are trying to open up some part on the front neck..." (More of the same.)
"...Mike murmured "We need electric curving knife..." (Maybe Mike should have been a chef.)
"The head was completely detouched." (No comment necessary.)
"Mike said lots of drainage coming out from everywhere but not from the jugular..." (If this is accurate, it seems blood was coming out from everywhere EXCEPT where it was supposed to be.)
"Brian said we are not getting any cryoprotectant in the venous. Mike back to the head." (It seems they were putting cryoprotectant in the arterial side, but it wasn't coming out the venous side, as it should.)
"Mike called Jose. Jose came back in. (It seemed to me Jose didn't complete his job.)" (How would Erico Narita know if anyone had completed a surgical task? Her notes make it quite clear she has little knowledge of the procedures and equipment. Throughout the report, I believe she uses various terms, such as "canyon," for "cannula." If Alcor assigns their note-taking to someone who has yet to master the English language, (much less applicable medical terminology), how can we even begin to trust them to assign medical tasks to the appropriate personnel?)
The pressure changes, the pump "making funny noises," Mike noticing one of the tubes is "not getting any fluid," the "reflectometer" that "had air" all seem to indicate air was pumped during the case, (something I'm told happens during most cryopreservations, a grossly negligent perfusion error that has been virtually non-existent, in conventional medicine, for decades).
"No air is coming out from the left side as well, Brian noted." (Just guessing from the phrasing, I would say "No" was supposed to be "Now." Either way, it most likely indicates that air was being pumped into, and exiting the vessels, at some point in time...a definite perfusion "no no.")
"The part of the flowrate was incorrect, because bypass line was open." (There's a bypass line that should be closed, when flowing to the patient. When the bypass line is open, a portion of the flow that is supposed to be going to the patient is being diverted to the venous (return) line, without ever reaching the patient. It's not clear when they turned on the perfusion pump, as it's not always clear as to what flows and/or pressures they are referring to, but they document starting the ramping of the cryoprotectant agent, at 22:02. No one noticed the bypass line was open, (a perfusion error), until sometime between 23:21 and 23:27, more than an hour later (79-85 minutes later). Does this seem acceptable for a company that had been in existence for approximately THREE DECADES??? Does this seem like a company that should expect people to believe they can preserve the "legally dead" well enough to be awakened in the future??? Would YOU pay THEM $150K to take perform your cryopreservation?
(The "Mike" being referred to is Michael "Mike Darwin" Federowicz.)
ABC Nightline Received False Information on Behalf of Alcor
There is a well-known story, in cryonics, about an HIV+/AIDS, patient, whose death was allegedly hastened by staff member(s) of Alcor. I've heard the story, I believe it was told in Kunzman's book, (Mothermelters). Larry Johnson told the same story, in his book, and he has audiotapes of an Alcor staff member discussing it. They played those tapes on ABC Nightline, last night. They also said someone claiming to be that patient's nurse called in, yesterday, to claim the patient died in his bedroom, with only the nurse and his partner present. I can only find one 1992 Alcor case report, in which an HIV+/AIDS, patient died, and it is very well-document BY ALCOR, that that patient died in a garage, just as Johnson and others have said.
From the Alcor Case Report for Case A-1260, in May 1992:
(Note: As per Alcor's report, "Nick" is a fictitious name.)
"The only feasible location for set-up was a garage located about 60 feet from the front door up a steep street. Considering that it took us over two minutes to move the last patient about six feet, there was concern over the ischemic time such a move would cause if Nick were pronounced in his bed.
That day, with Jim's assistance, Hugh and Keith cleaned out the garage, moved in several oxygen bottles, built a plastic enclosure large enough to hold the MALSS cart by stapling plastic sheeting to the ceiling beams, and installed 2000 watts of lighting. Typically, this would not be necessary, since most houses have at least one doorway that will admit the MALSS cart. So, while it was kind of rough and ready, the nurse who pronounced Nick when the time came commented that he had certainly seen worse set-up's used for operating rooms in Vietnam."
...
The logistics of moving our patient downstairs resulted in more discussion, arguments, and testing than any other aspect of the whole transport. (Mike missed this because he was in the garage priming the MALSS cart.) Keith's suggestion of using a gurney was tried with an empty gurney, but the required 70-degree angle looked so scary that nobody was willing to be a test subject. Hugh`s suggestion of a fireman's carry was ruled out because a slip on the carpeted stairs might seriously hurt both the patient and the carrier. We finally tried and settled on Carlos's proposal, with Max on one arm, Paul on the other, Hugh taking Nick's feet under his arms, and Keith holding his head. We got him downstairs without any problems (good suggestion, Carlos), onto the gurney, and (in our white Alcor lab coats) wheeled him up the street into the garage."
http://alcor.org/Library/html/casereport9205.html
Judging from information on Alcor's website, this appears to be the ONLY Alcor case, in 1992, involving an HIV or AIDS patient:
"1992
A-1260 19 Mar 1992 Neuro Case Report: Alcor handles an HIV case.
A-1171 Michael Friedman 01 Jun 1992 Brain and rest of body stored separately Case Report: An Alcor member is murdered (and worse yet, shot in the head).
A-1184 19 Jun 1992 Whole Body Case Report: Lessons learned from ischemic time that could have been avoided.
A-1367 Jim Glennie 24 Jun 1992 Neuro Case Report: An unusually extensive non-technical report on a near-textbook case See also A Well-Loved Man, a personal account by Jim's wife, Mary Margaret Glennie.
A-1410 James Hourihan 27 Jul 1992 Neuro Case Report: An extended standby in Massachusetts."
http://alcor.org/cases.html
Here are the people who were on the "Transport Team" when A-1260 died:
"Transport Team:
Hugh Hixon: Transport Team Leader, Surgical assistant
Mike Darwin: Oversight, Consultant, Femoral Cutdown
Arel Lucas: Airway Management, Temperature Probe Placement
Tanya Jones, Medications, Scribe
Max More: Scribe, Airway Relief
Paul Wakfer: Logistics Support, Airway Relief, MALSS Monitoring
Carlos Mondragon, Film and Video Recording
Leonard Zubkoff: HLR Operator, Oxygen Supplies Management
Keith Henson, Carpenter Assistant, O.R. Nurse, MALSS Monitoring"
http://alcor.org/Library/html/casereport9205.html
I suggest Nightline tracks down the person who claims to have been the nurse present when the AIDS patient died, with his partner, in his bedroom, and verify the situation, because it seems, to me, that Alcor's only HIV or AIDS patient that died in 1992, died in a garage. Nightline might also use the photos in Alcor's case report, to attempt to verify the location. (There are copies of the case report, in case it disappears from the Internet.)
From the Alcor Case Report for Case A-1260, in May 1992:
(Note: As per Alcor's report, "Nick" is a fictitious name.)
"The only feasible location for set-up was a garage located about 60 feet from the front door up a steep street. Considering that it took us over two minutes to move the last patient about six feet, there was concern over the ischemic time such a move would cause if Nick were pronounced in his bed.
That day, with Jim's assistance, Hugh and Keith cleaned out the garage, moved in several oxygen bottles, built a plastic enclosure large enough to hold the MALSS cart by stapling plastic sheeting to the ceiling beams, and installed 2000 watts of lighting. Typically, this would not be necessary, since most houses have at least one doorway that will admit the MALSS cart. So, while it was kind of rough and ready, the nurse who pronounced Nick when the time came commented that he had certainly seen worse set-up's used for operating rooms in Vietnam."
...
The logistics of moving our patient downstairs resulted in more discussion, arguments, and testing than any other aspect of the whole transport. (Mike missed this because he was in the garage priming the MALSS cart.) Keith's suggestion of using a gurney was tried with an empty gurney, but the required 70-degree angle looked so scary that nobody was willing to be a test subject. Hugh`s suggestion of a fireman's carry was ruled out because a slip on the carpeted stairs might seriously hurt both the patient and the carrier. We finally tried and settled on Carlos's proposal, with Max on one arm, Paul on the other, Hugh taking Nick's feet under his arms, and Keith holding his head. We got him downstairs without any problems (good suggestion, Carlos), onto the gurney, and (in our white Alcor lab coats) wheeled him up the street into the garage."
http://alcor.org/Library/html/casereport9205.html
Judging from information on Alcor's website, this appears to be the ONLY Alcor case, in 1992, involving an HIV or AIDS patient:
"1992
A-1260 19 Mar 1992 Neuro Case Report: Alcor handles an HIV case.
A-1171 Michael Friedman 01 Jun 1992 Brain and rest of body stored separately Case Report: An Alcor member is murdered (and worse yet, shot in the head).
A-1184 19 Jun 1992 Whole Body Case Report: Lessons learned from ischemic time that could have been avoided.
A-1367 Jim Glennie 24 Jun 1992 Neuro Case Report: An unusually extensive non-technical report on a near-textbook case See also A Well-Loved Man, a personal account by Jim's wife, Mary Margaret Glennie.
A-1410 James Hourihan 27 Jul 1992 Neuro Case Report: An extended standby in Massachusetts."
http://alcor.org/cases.html
Here are the people who were on the "Transport Team" when A-1260 died:
"Transport Team:
Hugh Hixon: Transport Team Leader, Surgical assistant
Mike Darwin: Oversight, Consultant, Femoral Cutdown
Arel Lucas: Airway Management, Temperature Probe Placement
Tanya Jones, Medications, Scribe
Max More: Scribe, Airway Relief
Paul Wakfer: Logistics Support, Airway Relief, MALSS Monitoring
Carlos Mondragon, Film and Video Recording
Leonard Zubkoff: HLR Operator, Oxygen Supplies Management
Keith Henson, Carpenter Assistant, O.R. Nurse, MALSS Monitoring"
http://alcor.org/Library/html/casereport9205.html
I suggest Nightline tracks down the person who claims to have been the nurse present when the AIDS patient died, with his partner, in his bedroom, and verify the situation, because it seems, to me, that Alcor's only HIV or AIDS patient that died in 1992, died in a garage. Nightline might also use the photos in Alcor's case report, to attempt to verify the location. (There are copies of the case report, in case it disappears from the Internet.)
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