Saturday, February 20, 2010

Portrait of a "Cryonics Professional"

Mathew Sullivan, of Suspended Animation, in Boynton Beach, FL, seems to have recently made it his mission to discredit me. Back in December, he wrote:
"I would expect someone who claims to be a medical professional can do two things:
1) Demonstrate medical knowledge in some fashion
2) Act professionally
How can someone claim to be a medical professional and fall notably short of living up to 1 & 2 above?"

http://www.network54.com/Forum/291677/message/1260494638/Medical+Professional

Personally, I think the implied accusations of ignorance and unprofessional behavior applies to the majority of people being paid to work in cryonics, (including Mathew), but since he was referring to me...


As for Point 1:

I have demonstrated my medical knowledge by earning a BS in Allied Health Science and a Certificate in Perfusion Technology, at a prestigious college of medicine, passing the national perfusion certification boards, and during nine years working in heart surgery, where I was well respected by my peers and superiors. I have a stack of reference letters from cardiovascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, perfusionists and hospital administrators.


Mathew, who was a store clerk, before he was a "cryonics professional," has demonstrated his lack of medical knowledge, by parroting, (usually, without question), what has been taught to him, by people such as science fiction writers.

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 Mathew.
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.

Mathew followed this up, with 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?

Essentially, for nearly 40 years, people like Mathew have been taught to blindly follow protocols and use certain equipment, without question. Whenever I questioned protocols, or equipment, as an employee, at Suspended Animation, all that ensued was a lot of manipulations and subversions, designed to undermine my every suggestion. It wasn't until I resigned, and publicly complained, that SA started taking steps to change.

Blind followers like Mathew, are desirable employees, in cryonics, (for supervisors, who often don't know much more than they do), but detrimental to the progress of cryonics.

As for Point 2:

People who want to clean out a sewer have to be willing to sling a lot of crap.

Friday, February 19, 2010

For FD's "Paradigm of Secrecy" Theory

I was looking for references to a certain individual, and I came across an old issue of "Cryonics," from October 1981. I thought FD, over on Cold Filter, might find this segment of interest:

"4. Prospective members will not have to be told that the "cost" of
cryonic suspension is $50,000 or $75,000 -- only that they have to pay a
yearly, quarterly, or monthly fee."
(Written by Saul Kent.)
http://www.alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics8110.txt


What else did the powers that be think prospective members, (or even active members), did "not have to be told," back in 1981? What about now? Do Mr. Kent and his friends, (the people who, in my opinion, have funded and directed a vast amount of incompetence, over several decades), STILL think there is no need for prospective members, active members, or anyone else, to know the details of what goes on, in the operation of the cryonics organizations they fund?

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."