Quote
The Anticult
This raises many serious questions.
(Steven B. Harris, M.D.) aka Steve Harris MD has set himself up as a spokesman for cryonics.
But as Steve Harris MD makes income from cryonics, then he needs to declare his income sources in cryonics, and conflicts of interest in full disclosure.
Where is that conflict of interest declaration listing the specific payments from various cryonics companies, and individuals and organizations?

Since Harris hasn't made the disclosure, you can find some of the information you want in Life Extension Foundation's (Florida) 990's. You can look them up, here: [foundationcenter.org]

For the years 2002 through 2008, Life Extension Foundation (LEF) gave just over $5.5M dollars to Critical Care Research (CCR), in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Like their sister organization, Suspended Animation (SA), of Boynton Beach, FL, CCR doesn't provide the public with much information, so we can't be sure who works there. When I was working at SA, I was told the four employees of CCR were Harris, his wife, his mother-in-law and the mother-in-law's significant other. I think it would be safe to assign a rather healthy portion of that more-than-five million dollars in seven years, to salaries and benefits. (In LEF's 2003 990, it states that LEF's ownership of CCR was 80.6%. I'm not sure who owned the rest, or if that has changed.) In addition to being the key player at CCR, Harris is the Chief Medical Advisor of Alcor, a Director of SA (or, at least, he was the last time they named their Directors), and on the Advisory Board of Cryonics Institute (CI).

ABC news said Alcor suggested the hospice carry out a list of activities, as quoted below.


___________quote___________
[abcnews.go.com]
"Darlene Robbins said Alcor told her mother that they wanted her to move to Phoenix to die, something Robbins did not want to do. She (Mary Robbins) asked that Alcor send personnel to assist her, Darlene Robbins said, but Alcor suggested her hospice carry out the lengthy list of after-death protocols that the company requires to prep the body for freezing, including administering a cocktail of medications and performing CPR once death has already occurred to keep oxygen flowing.
"Hospice said it was not within their power to do that. They didn't have the medications," Darlene Robbins said. "It's against their charter, which is to help people die with dignity and peace."
___________________________

Quote
melmax

Quote
The Anticult

For the 50K she assigned to Alcor, according to this report, Alcor tried to get people at a hospice to do their "cryonics procedures"?
Melody Maxim might find that very interesting, Alcor trying to get someone else to do whatever it is that Alcor wants to do with the body.

I think the Robbins family was a little confused, in regard to what would happen, when the cryonics standby team arrived on the scene. In one news report, they complained that no one from Alcor had shown up and that their mother was in pain. Alcor showing up was not going to help that situation, since they are not allowed to do ANYTHING, while the person is still alive. It is my understanding that cryonics organizations do try to get hospitals and hospices to leave in existing IV lines, and I have no objection to that. Also, if a person has been removed from life support, and they are at death's door, (say, their blood pressure is rapidly decreasing and their heartrate is dwindling down to near zero), they may try to get the nurses to administer heparin, just before death, to prevent the blood from clotting. I really don't think Alcor would try to get the hospice to do anything more than that.

(Steven B. Harris, M.D.) aka Steve Harris MD

...has to provide a full public disclosure of which organizations and persons in cryonics have hired him in various capacities, and declare what those conflict of interests are.
So far a working list for Steve Harris MD is:

Critical Care Research (CCR)
Chief Medical Advisor of Alcor,
Director of Suspended Animation SA
Advisory Board of Cryonics Institute (CI).
Life Extension Foundation (LEF) and Saul Kent.


There is serious cryonics money sloshing around in those organizations.

Its self-serving circle, where a bunch of guys like Steve Harris, Rudi Hoffman, Ben Best and others are making their living through cryonics, and also promoting and selling cryonics contracts through eachother, and getting commissions.

Ben Best sends you directly to Rudi Hoffman (with an insider-deal?), and Rudi collects his commission/fees signing you to a Ben Best organization Cryonics Institute contract, where Dr. Steven Harris was/is on the advisory board and apparently receives direct funding from the same companies and persons.
The few people at the top of cryonics are making some serious money, and want to make millions more. Its big business, for those involved.


Steve Harris is bragging about being associated with Mike "Darwin"?

[www.suspendedinc.com]
__________quote________________
9:30am–10:15am
A presentation by
Steve Harris MD
Scientific Director
Critical Care Research

New Breakthrough in Rapid Cooling of
Cryopreservation Patients after
Cardiac Arrest
Dr. Harris has been actively involved in cryonics for
almost twenty years, and has advised and participated
in numerous cryonics cases. His experiments with
primary inventor Michael Darwin and co-inventor
Sandra Russell at Critical Care Research in Southern
California .....
___________________

The usual suspects in the cryonics business, all cross-promoting eachothers business models, in a cryonics seminar a few years ago.
Saul Kent certainly knows which side the bread is buttered.
There was the "Personal Revival Trust" scam which they are selling now.

That has to be illegal trying to sell something like that, except that the fine print will say something like...
..."once you sign your former money over to us its no longer your money...the sales documents are all fluffy nonsense to get you to sign the irrevocable trust that you can never get out of...of course its all there for "your protection...just sign the papers...no need to see an attorney...just sign...sign...sign..."


____________________________
[www.suspendedinc.com]
Saturday, May 19th, 2007

The Value of Rapid Intervention for
Cryopreservation Patients
9:00am–9:30am
A presentation by
Charles Platt
Director
Suspended Animation


Aschwin de Wolf
Cryopreservation
Protocol Director
Suspended Animation


Tanya Jones
COO, Alcor Foundation


Saul Kent
Founder and Director
Life Extension Foundation


4:30pm–5:30pm
A panel discussion
moderated by
Saul Kent
CEO & Director
Suspended Animation


Funding for Cryonics, Revival, and
Wealth Preservation

Cryopreservation may be funded by methods
including life insurance, trusts, real estate, and
stocks and bonds. The funding of last-minute cases
presents special problems related to the criteria for
acceptance of such cases and the risks of accepting
them. We will describe the Personal Revival Trust,
a new concept in patient advocacy; financial
protection for cryopreserved patients; financial issues
affecting cryonics organizations; funding the revival
of cryopreserved patients; and funding research
aimed at reviving specific patients. Panelists will
explain asset preservation trusts and foundations
to enable you to take your money with you.

A panel discussion
moderated by
Saul Kent

Michael Riskin
CPA, Chairman of
the Board of Directors
Alcor Foundation

Rudi Hoffman
CFP, Life Insurance
& Investment Advisor


Ben Best
CEO, Cryonics Institute

Steve Van Sickle
Executive Director
Alcor Foundation


Jim Yount
CEO,
American Cryonics Society



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2010 11:09AM by The Anticult.

In response to another thread [www.imminst.org] Mark Plus is trying more BS tactics.
Its those at the top who are making good money now with cryonics contracts, and who are gunning to sign up thousands of people, and make millions.

Why does Mark Plus persist in saying his blatant bullshit, that is contradicted by the very people in cryonics who said it?
Its the cryonics bigwigs, the Rudi Hoffman's, who have said they want to get MILLIONS to sign up for cryonics, by doing such PR stunts as giving "free cryonics" to celebrities.
THEY HAVE SAID IT.

But no Mark Plus has to persist with the bullshit. Why bullshit about things they have said?
They said it, they want to sign up thousands for cryonics and make billions. There is no question that is their game plan, and they think they can do it.

FROZEN PET CEMETERY.
And of course everyone feels sad when Fluffy the cat dies, but turning The Cryonics Institute run by Ben Best into a frozen pet cemetery for Boomers and Yuppies dead pets?
That is going to get them credibility, exploiting the sadness of pet owners, to sign people up to the cryonics organization?
No, that is to get some fast money through emotional exploitation, and to try to get people into cryonics using the back door.

How much?
Minimum of $6,000, plus FedEx fees, and Vet bills.
If its a big dog, its going to cost $150 a pound more!

Make sure to put Fluffy in the fridge, or icebox, then a cooler, then ship FedEx.
But you better have PAID IN FULL in advance, or Fluffy will be Return To Sender. They will kill your dead cat if you don't pay them in advance in full, and wire the money right into their bank accounts.

The even slip in the cryo-propaganda..."deanimated pets". No, that is cultic Newspeak. The pet is dead, and Fluffy is not coming back. Its sad, but even a child can understand that.

Its an emotional scam, $6,000 a pet, plus forcing them to join the Cryonics Institute as a member, so they can advertise at you, and get you on their mailing and marketing lists...forever.
Expect some letters from Rudi Hoffman too, about new special deals in cryonics financing.



_________quote excerpt______________
www.cryonics.org/pets.html

Pet Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation of pets can only be done by Lifetime and Yearly Members of the Cryonics Institute. Yearly Members must have fully paid for no less than one year, ie, have paid $120 yearly dues plus $75 initiation fee for a full year's Membership. CI Members wishing to cryopreserve a pet must execute the Pet Cryonic Storage Agreement.

Excluding the cost of Membership, the cost of cryopreserving a cat is $5,800, which does not include shipping and veterinarian expenses. For a dog, cryopreservation cost is $5,800 up to 15 pounds in weight plus $150 per pound for every pound above 15. For a pet bird of typical size we charge $700, but the price may be higher for a very large bird. ....

If your pet has already died and you want us to try to do a perfusion with cryoprotectants to reduce ice crystal formation, put your pet in a refrigerator as soon as possible if it will fit. If it will not fit in a refrigerator, try to find a tub or basin which is large enough. Put ice and ice-water around your pet so that it will cool and remain at ice-water temperature. Although it is messy, ice-water cools more rapidly than ice cubes or ice packs, ....

If your pet has already been placed in a freezer we will not be able to do a perfusion with anti-freeze cryoprotectants because ice formation has damaged the blood vessels. In that case, leave your pet in the freezer until you are ready for shipment.

When ready for shipment, try to find a picnic-type cooler — a well-insulated container which will hold your pet and enough ice too keep your pet cool for the shipment. Pack zip-lock bags with ice cubes or ice packs around your pet and seal the container. The container should not leak water. Pack the cooler in cardboard and label "biological specimen packed in ice". Ship by courier (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.) to the Cryonics Institute.

But you must ensure that your payment is complete before shipping. We cannot accept shipment without having received payment beforehand. (For much more detail about shipping pets, see Shipping of Deanimated Pets.)

....
You can send your payment by mail with check or money order enclosed to the Cryonics Institute, ########## (payable to the Cryonics Institute) or you can wire money directly to our bank (contact us for instructions). Major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard and American Express) may or may not be acceptable, depending on the amount and the circumstances. ...

_____unquote excerpt____



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2010 11:54AM by The Anticult.

It is clear that The Anitcult is correct; the key to clarity in "cryonics" is following the money. While I have stated many times my complaint with "cryonics" is the lack of science to support their ideals it is clear that The Anticult is correct and I am not.

How many odd conversations must I get into that cannot be "won" on science ("Well, in the future we will have the tech to re-animate dead bodies").

That is impossible to win. The FUTURE is always, well, in the future.

Show us the money NOW. Where is Alcor (and others) with giving complete and open books to investigators? To claim "We are totally open" and to give documents on the web that are not completely transparent or even accurate by independant auditers standards is irrelevant.

Open the books. The Anticult is correct. Forget Science. Show us the money.

Not long after I first began working in cryonics, I came to believe a handful of opportunists were taking advantage of a couple of wealthy dreamers who were willing to invest millions of dollars a year, into cryonics. Having participated in surgeries in which patients were subjected to hypothermic arrest and later revived, I thought (still think) cryonics was worth investigating. At first, I thought the major obstacle, where I was working, was ignorance. It was clear they had little knowledge of existing equipment, so there they were, living in the dark ages of hypothermic medicine, "reinventing the wheel," every step of the way, and getting their feelings hurt everytime someone said there was a better way. I was torn between believing they were either greedy opportunists, or "big fish in a small sea" unwilling to sacrifice ego for progress, (or maybe some combination of the two).

There's something wrong with the big picture, in regard to Alcor and the LEF-funded cryonics organizations. When you have people spending millions of dollars, year after year, on mostly foolishness, it's hard to continue believing they are really striving for the goals they claim to be striving for. With the money those companies spend, they should have hired people competent in performing femoral cannulations, perfusion, and the tasks of paramedics (gaining IV access, intubations, etc.), many years ago. Instead, they are still driving around in a van, with unqualified people practicing those skills on dead pigs. It's stupid. It's so stupid I can only believe the people who orchestrate this foolishness are either not very intelligent, or corrupt. Since many of them appear to be of above-average intelligence, I'm left with "corrupt."

To be honest, I didn't expect to get much out of reading this forum, or posting on it, but I was wrong. This forum has made me question the money issue, more than I already did. I just got off the phone, with a friend of mine. We weren't discussing cryonics, at all, (we never have), but an unrelated issue that didn't seem logical. She said, "When you can't explain why people are behaving in a certain way, follow the money."

bump

The latest and greatest from the Alcor Vs. Johnson saga...



[cryomedical.blogspot.com]

If Alcor cares so much about "patient confidentiality," why is an anonymous person posting details, which should be known only to Alcor insiders, on the Internet? This isn't the first time someone has, anonymously, posted what appears to be insider information, related to Alcor, on the Cold Filter forum. Would it be proper for an Alcor employee, former employee, or anyone with strong ties to Alcor, to pass this type of information to an anonymous person, so that it could be posted on the Internet? Wouldn't current, and former, employees of Alcor be bound by the same confidentiality agreements they have tried to apply to Mr. Johnson, if there are any such valid agreements?

"The comment is hardly innocuous, being that some of those "cryonicists with cameras" took pictures of a converted ambulance used to pick TW up from the airport. Not any kind of box truck, much less a U-Haul one." [www.network54.com]

If Alcor cares so much about "patient confidentiality," why were there so many people at the Ted Williams case, taking pictures, to begin with? Who called them up, and told them Mr. Williams' body would be arriving at the Alcor facility? Wasn't Alcor obligated to protect Mr. Williams' privacy, at the time? Who was in charge, at Alcor, that day? Didn't that person have the decency and common sense to say, "Everybody off this property in five seconds, or I'm calling the police," before Mr. Williams arrived?

Does Alcor actually have "patients"? In other words, can a corpse qualify as a "patient"? I would also like to know if it acceptable for a company to refer to laymen as "surgeons."

Here are my previous comments regarding Mr. Williams' transportation, which seem to have prompted someone to feed what I believe Alcor might call "confidential patient information," to an anonymous person, to be posted on the Internet:

Okay...let's try a little experiment. Everyone reading this pretend you couldn't care less about cryonics, Alcor, or Larry Johnson. In fact, pretend you never heard of any of them, until you were subpoenaed to sit on the jury, at a civil trial. Now, pretend Johnson's attorneys, (having already established that Alcor has, indeed, used moving vans/box trucks to move their deceased members), reads the following statement, from his book, outloud:

"As the body was unloaded from a U-Haul truck and wheeled across the Scottsdale, Arizona, parking lot, cryonicists with cameras swarmed from Alcor's back doors, laughing, joking, and snapping souvenir pictures."
(From the Johnson/Baldyga book, "Frozen," page 193.)

Doesn't the comment about unloading the body from a U-Haul truck seem rather innocuous, compared to the rest of the sentence? Wouldn't you be wondering why Alcor didn't object to the rest of the sentence? Was the remainder of the sentence accurate? Don't many people refer to moving vans and box trucks as "U-Haul trucks," the same way we say we're going to "Xerox" something, rather than "copy" it? Maybe the statement was inaccurate, but does the first part of the sentence really appear to be malicious defamation? Doesn't the defamation claim, related to the use of the term "U-Haul truck," seem particularly frivilous, considering the fact that Alcor has used box trucks to move their clients, and considering all the dirt Johnson dished? Does anyone believe Johnson sat around, thinking, "Gee, I'll throw in the term 'U-Haul truck,' to make Alcor look ridiculous." If the statement was inaccurate, was it an intentional lie? Conversely, did Johnson's comments, regarding Alcor providing a private plane for Mr. Williams' transport from Florida to Arizona, make Alcor seem more dignified, or impressive?

The statement that got me thinking about this is from Alcor's May 24, 2010 "Memorandum in Opposition to Johnson's Motion to Dismiss":
"This is no different than the other statements of opinion in which Johnson suggest that Alcor used a U-Haul truck to deliver the body of Ted William to its facility (a false statement implying that Alcor used a rented box van to transport a legendary sports figure)...These are statements of
fact, which can be proven false, and would appear to the outside world as subjecting Alcor to ridicule."

Doesn't it look like Alcor's own attorneys have the opinion that Alcor would appear ridiculous, to the outside world, if it was known they have transported members in box vans? In culling 30-something examples, from what has been called "four hundred pages of lies," by someone testifying on Alcor's behalf, is an objection to the use of the term "U-Haul truck" amongst the best they could do? Didn't anyone at Alcor raise their hand and say, "Hey, wait a minute, we probably shouldn't indicate the use of a rented box van would make us appear ridiculous"?

Why did Alcor's attorneys used the phrase "legendary sports figure," in their complaints? Does celebrity status afford better treatment than that provided for the average Alcor member? How about when the celebrity never bothered to officially sign up, fill out Alcor's paperwork, or provide for funding, in advance? Does he deserve better treatment than Alcor members who have gone out of their way to prepare for, and provide for, their own cryo-suspensions? How many of them get whisked off, in private planes? How many of them have been transported in rented box vans?

These are the types of questions I would imagine the Johnson/Baldyga/Vanguard attorneys will be asking, in court, if the case ever makes it there.
[www.network54.com]

Below is an interesting post. Seems that Alcor cult is still denying the fact they are killing people. This woman Melody calls them out.


[www.network54.com]


The Nurse (For Mr. Ettinger)
July 14 2010 at 9:45 AM Melody Maxim (Login melmax) Veteran Member


Response to scoundrel Johnson
________________________________________
Mr. Ettinger: "Below is evidence concerning just one of Johnson's lies concerning an Alcor patient whose death was allegedly deliberately hastened. The writer of the Amazon review was the nurse taking care of the patient. It seems far more likely that the nurse is telling the truth than Johnson."

Mr. Ettinger,

We've already been through this, on this forum, but maybe you missed it. Johnson did not fabricate the story about that particular incident. He heard the story from his co-workers, and it was virtually identical to the story told to me, by some of my co-workers, at SA. Johnson has a number of Alcor staff members, discussing what appears to be more than one illegal euthanasia, on audiotape. You can hear at least a couple of those recordings, here: [frozenbook.com] Also, if you do a thorough search, you can find a lot of Internet discussions, (including comments from Saul Kent), regarding a certain person, whose activities had the potential to be very damaging to cryonics. For someone who has heard the stories, it's easy to "read between the lines."

The nurse made his first appearance in the public eye, when he called ABC Nightline to claim Johnson was "lying," and to claim the patient in question died in his bedroom alone with his lover, rather than in the garage as Johnson's repetition of the Alcor legend had described. The nurse's version of the story directly contradicts the Alcor case report, (written by Mike Darwin and Keith Henson), which states: "The nurse, who was extremely supportive and competent, had called it close. Nick (with Jim holding his hand to the end) quit breathing and experienced cardiac arrest about half an hour after we got him into the garage." [alcor.org]

I have a hard time believing Mike and Keith lied, about the location of the patient at the time of death, when they wrote their report, 18 years ago. IF they WERE going to lie, they should have told the nurse's version of the story!! Ironically, Carlos Mondragon called ABC Nightline, implying the rumors regarding the illegal euthansia were true and saying Alcor had severed all ties with the person who had been accused, (presumably by Alcor staff members), of hastening the death of an Alcor client. (Unfortunately, Mr. Mondragon was not honest enough to also mention that Alcor brought back the same person, to perform the Ted Williams case.)

The nurse, whose name had never been mentioned by Johnson, (and I don't believe it was mentioned on Nightline), later wrote the Amazon review and signed his name. At that point, I observed that SOMEONE wasn't telling the truth, (since the nurse's story contradicted the Alcor report and Mondragon's statement), and questioned whether the nurse was attempting to protect his own professional reputation. (Though the best way to do that, would have been simply to remain silent, as no one had ever named him, until he did so, himself.) After that, the nurse kept posting on Amazon, claiming he had tried to contact me many times, but that I had ignored him. I, having never received a single email from him, contacted him, immediately, and we exchanged several polite emails. He insisted the Alcor report was wrong, and that the patient had died in the bedroom, rather than the garage, as stated in the Alcor report. He speculated that some of the Alcor staff members fabricated the story about killing someone, (though I can't imagine why they would do that!). He also claimed Mike had identified himself and Tanya, as nurses, at the time of the case. (He was very specific about this...I can't recall the exact details, without digging out my archived files, from an old computer, but I believe he said Mike identified himself as a BSN and Tanya as an LPN.)

After these very civil exchanges, I had the nerve to go off on a ten-night vacation, without telling anyone. I have a very strict policy of not checking my email, on vacation, and while I was gone the nurse sent me quite a few emails. Apparently, he was offended that I was not responding to him. Not only did his emails get hostile, he went on a rampage, writing nasty things about me, on Amazon, (at the same time he was writing some really nasty, and untrue, things about Larry Johnson). After I remarked on his reckless speculations being libelous, he edited out a lot of the comments he had made, and issued a public apology to both Johnson, and me.

If you choose to believe the nurse's version of the story, you are going to have to call a lot of people associated with Alcor "liars," such as the people discussing illegal euthanasia on those audiotapes, and the two who wrote the report, which contradicts the nurse's story. Johnson was just repeating what he heard from Alcor's own staff members. Either they were involved in illegal euthanasia, or they lied about being involved in illegal euthanasia...either way, they reek of unethical and unprofessional behavior.