Friday, February 19, 2010

Peach Pits and Propofol

Recently, having not been satisfied with the rationale that supports cryonics organizations allowing laymen to have access to, transport, and administer propofol, (something I think is foolish and unnecesssary), I brought up the topic, again, on the Cold Filter forum. I threw out "propofol," and got back "peach pits" and "water," from one of those "cryonics professionals," (Mathew Sullivan), at Suspended Animation, a cryonics care provider, in Boynton Beach, Florida. http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1265910890/Apples%2C+peaches%2C+and+more%2C+as+a+controlled+substance

In addition to the very lame, "anything can be lethal, in sufficient quantity" argument, Mathew also put forth that my expressions of concern, in regard to laymen, (who are associated with two organizations that have been accused of numerous unethical, unprofessional and illegal activities), handling certain medications, were equivalent to calling in bomb threats.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1265992986/Reckless+disregard+for+others
See my response, here: http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1266024246/Too+Ridiculous+Not+to+Comment+On)
During the discussion of propofol, Mathew foolishly advised readers of the Cold Filter forum that: "If by chance you don't know what sodium chloride for injection is, you can think of it as sterile water." Normal saline can safely be injected in large amounts, while the injection of sterile water, without the appropriate additives, will lead to hemolysis, (the destruction of red blood cells). To suggest that normal saline and sterile water are the same is ignorant and/or reckless. This is what happens when people, without the proper education and training, think they know more than they really do.

During the course of the discussion, Mathew made an even more bizarre statement: "In the real world, CPS turning into CPR equates to practicing medicine." http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1266290895/Living+cells+in+brains+and+metabolism...

Mathew's remark was incorrect, in two very obvious ways: "In the real world," CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) IS (a form of) CPS (cardiopulmonary support), and CPR does not equate to "practicing medicine." When I pointed out the obvious flaws in his logic, Mathew then tried to distract from his foolish mistakes, by asking if I think, "...if revival does occur, then we can invoke the Good Samaritan law without ANY legal consequence to the cryonics company involved or any of the individual team members..." http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1266379082/Re-+I+hate+to+tell+Mathew+this...

This would be true, only if they were going to abandon their cryonics procedures if someone's heart started beating. The anonymous "FD," on the Cold Filter forum, claims the propofol will prevent this from happening.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1266530085/How+many+definitions+of+%26quot%3Bdead%26quot%3B+would+you+like-


Is that accurate information? Or will the dose they are administering only render unconsciousness, and only for a short time? It doesn't seem logical to claim that "not enough propofol to kill anyone," is enough to "keep someone dead."

Do the patient care providers, for companies such as Alcor and Suspended Animation, ever question the protocols and/or equipment? Most of them seem to be laymen, who don't know enough to question medications protocols, blindly following orders. They have a "one size fits all" meds protocol, and none of them appear to know to ask simple questions, such as, "Do any of the drugs require maintainence dosing?"

To top it all off, they have advisors, such as Steve Harris MD, publicly stating he didn't tell a cryonics team, comprised solely of laymen, to give maintainence doses of heparin, to CI-81, because "they didn't ask." Brilliant...send a bunch of laymen, who know nothing about medicine, and then don't tell them anything, unless they ask. It's the cryo-way.

I resigned from SA, in early 2007, and Aschwin de Wolf resigned, not long after that. I would say that, after Aschwin and I were gone, Mathew was probably the remaining staff member who was most knowledgeable about the medical procedures being used in cryonics. Sadly, Mathew's public statements reflect his lack of general knowledge about medicine, and his inability to engage in a rational discussion, regarding medical issues related to cryonics.

Cryonics protocols need to undergo drastic changes, but people like Mathew and most of his peers aren't even capable of having intelligent, well-informed discussions, on medically-related topics. The people who designed the protocols seem to feel as though their job was done, a long time ago. Was their goal to do what is best for each and every individual who wants to be cryopreserved, or was it to simply design a protocol that would impress the people paying for cryonics "research"?

Do the medical professionals the organizations are bringing onboard, (in response to harsh criticism, regarding laymen performing procedures), care enough about cryonics to question the protocols and equipment, or are most of them simply doing what they are told, in exchange for some very healthy consulting fees? It's been my experience that questioning the protocols and equipment is a good way to get run out of cryonics. As an SA staff member, who knew nothing about medicine, used to ask, in response to suggestions from qualified paramedics, "Why don't they just do what we tell them to do? We pay them, after all."

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