From: randy (cryofan@mylinuxisp.com)
Date: Wed Aug 13 2003 - 18:49:47 MDT
Nice discussion on this topic here:
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/90236
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 19:07:01 -0700, you wrote
>
>Alcor News Report: 8/13/03
>
>=============================================================
>
> Renewed Ted Williams Controversy: An Interim Response
>
>
>Earlier this year Alcor News reported that we hired Larry
>Johnson, a nationally certified paramedic, to manage our
>standby/transport work and emergency response capability.
>Larry came to us with excellent references and was actively
>helpful in implementing a major revision of our meds kits. He
>participated in our March training sessions and also helped
>to train paramedics in Phoenix and Florida. Larry became an
>Alcor member and made no secret of this. He told a CBS TV
>news team from Los Angeles that he had always wanted to see
>the future, and he seemed to feel that cryonics would help
>him to get there.
>
>In two cases, Larry made a decisive difference by giving
>emergency guidance over the phone. He helped to minimize
>ischemic damage and made a radical difference to the
>condition of the cryopatients in these cases. We were
>impressed by his assistance generally, and were glad to have
>him at Alcor.
>
>Unfortunately Larry seemed to feel unhappy with some aspects
>of Alcor. He had come to us from a very large, well-funded
>paramedic facility where he had been better compensated.
>Apparently he nursed a grudge to such an extent that he
>provided a reporter at Sports Illustrated with confidential
>information which seemed calculated to damage Alcor as much
>as possible. The news item was picked up by The Associated
>Press and triggered reports from sources such as The New
>York Times and The Arizona Republic.
>
>We were astonished and dismayed that a nationally certified
>paramedic would behave in such a way, without any significant
>provocation that we are aware of. We had done everything we
>could to get to know Larry and verify that he was an ethical
>person whom we could trust.
>
>Fortunately Alcor has accumulated some redundancy among its
>field team members during the past year. We can still respond
>well in an emergency. In the meantime, in reply to some of
>Larry Johnson's allegations, we are providing the news media
>with information explaining that our procedures are
>formulated to minimize damage, not create it.
>
>In particular, the damage caused by fracturing when a
>vitrified cryopatient is cooled to liquid-nitrogen
>temperature is small compared with the cellular damage that
>used to occur using glycerol as a cryoprotectant. While we
>won't be entirely happy until the day when we achieve zero-
>damage cryopreservation, we are absolutely convinced that
>repair of simple fractures will be easy compared with the
>reconstruction of cellular debris that used to be caused by
>ice formation.
>
>Also, when we use a perforator (a standard medical tool) in
>our operating room to create two small burr holes in the
>skull, this is a precaution enabling us to inspect the
>surface of the brain during cryoprotective perfusion.
>Observation of the brain is a safety measure to reduce the
>risk of edema. Here again, we tolerate a small amount of
>damage in the interests of avoiding much greater damage. (A
>burr hole can be repaired even with today's medicine.)
>
>Finally we must emphasize, contrary to news reports, that
>Alcor has never collected "DNA samples" from its
>cryopatients. Obviously Alcor has no need to collect "DNA
>samples," since a neuropatient already contains billions of
>DNA molecules. We may collect venous effluent samples during
>the perfusion of a cryopatient, but the purpose of these
>samples is to evaluate blood chemistry via standard lab
>tests.
>
>So far as we can tell, Larry Johnson took some of Alcor's
>property away with him when he disappeared without warning at
>the end of the weekend of August 9th and 10th. During the
>preceding weeks he recorded conversations with Alcor
>employees without notifying them or seeking their permission,
>and he probably viewed confidential documents. We will be
>taking appropriate action. Alcor must make a clear statement
>that it will not be intimidated by the threat of bad press
>and will not tolerate gross violations of its standard
>nondisclosure agreement by employees or ex-employees.
>
>We will provide additional updates when we have any
>significant news to report. Currently we have been unable to
>reach Larry Johnson via phone or email, despite repeated
>attempts. If he has any statement to make regarding our
>description of what we believe he did, we invite his
>response.
-------------
-Randy
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