X-Message-Number: 1509
From:
Subject: CRYONICS Re Saul, the FDA, and history
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 92 17:15:23 PST
In message: #1486 - The FDA & Saul Kent - Steve Harris writes
eloquently (as usual) about both the FDA and Saul's problems with it.
> Which brings me to the subject of empathy for Saul's plight
>among a number of cryonicists on this forum--- the singular
>absence of which is astounding.
Not quite. Late last and early this year I was actively involved in
spreading the Life Extension vs the FDA story over the nets, trying to
build support for his cause. I have been rather too busy to be very
active in this cause since Saul and I wound up on opposite sides of
the political battle for control of Alcor, but I still am opposed to
the FDA.
> The FDA is not your friend. In
>fact, since the FDA does not consider "aging" a "disease," and
>therefore would not consider the licensing of any drug which was
>found to combat aging, the FDA is your sworn enemy. It follows
>that anyone who *fights* the FDA deserves the gratitude of every
>thinking cryonicist. Anyone.
I am in wholehearted agreement with all Steve says here, and with his
comments as to Saul being an old timer in the cryonics world, and a
major benefactor (though I suspect that the Jones estate has provided
more). And I agree that it is a major loss to cryonics that Saul's
resources have been diverted to fighting to keep his freedom.
> There has been a certain amount of griping on this forum about
>the political pull of Saul at Alcor, but I only see this in terms
>of the fact that cryonics is not a democracy, nor is meant to be.
>Does Saul have too much power? I don't know. I do know,
>however, that if political power were given out solely in terms
>of how much lifetime and money and commitment an organization's
>members had spent in its service and the service of its ideals,
>then Saul would surely have relatively MORE power then he
>presently has in Alcor, not less. On the whole, I don't think
>it's something to worry about too much.
Sadly, I have to disagree. I *do* worry about the impact of Saul's
influence--even his association--on the survival of Alcor and its
patients because as Steve points out:
> The power of the government, on the other hand.....now that's
>something to worry about.
Why am I concerned about Saul having a lot of influence over Alcor?
Two reasons: First, because Saul is a magnet for a *lot* of
unfriendly attention by the government. Investigators tend to look
with a great deal of suspicion at anything in which he is involved.
Second, because the kind of business the FDA seems to think Saul is in
breeds an overly healthy *disrespect* for the power of the state. I
think this can lead to judgment errors about what you get away with.
Is this sour grapes because Saul has picked me out as the next person
to cut down to size? Or am I just being paranoid? You, the readers
of CryoNet, can judge, but I may need to remind you:
This has ALREADY HAPPENED ONCE!
How much do you know about the aftermath of the Dora Kent suspension?
Not much for most of you, because Alcor was only about a hundred
people in late 1987, and a lot of the background is not well
known--even to the people who were members then. That episode
destroyed Jerry Leaf's career with UCLA, (and almost certainly
contributed to his death) and nearly did the same for Steve's.
Defending Dr. Steve Harris from the Bureau of Medical Quality
Assurance cost Alcor about $45,000 in attorney fees. I was not on the
board then, but I know Carlos insisted to the other board members at
that time that Alcor had to establish a record of defending any
professionals who are attacked for their association with us. This is
one point where Carlos and a certain other former staffer were in
perfect agreement. (On a comic/tragic note, BMQA only let up on Steve
when a former Alcor staffer ran their investigator out of the Alcor
facility at gunpoint. The investigator never came back, but, for
obvious reasons, the staffer had to be terminated.)
Let me illustrate my concerns about Saul (or other members who
"attract the attention of important people") by pulling up a long
quote from the January 11, 1988 affidavit of Allen Eugene Kunzman.
Kunzman, a coroner deputy, was appearing before Judge Hollenhorst in
support of the search warrant which was used in a solid attempt by the
coroner's office to shut down Alcor. We will never know how close the
coroners came to ending Alcor, but *they* thought they had put Alcor
out of business, and said so to anyone who called Alcor or the
coroner's office on that long, long day of January 12th, 1988.
[Q's are questions by a deputy DA, and A's are by Kunzman.]
[Starting on page 4]
Q. Also did you seize [in the previous raid] what appear to be
invoices slips there at the Alcor facility that day?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you explain what those were to us, explain them to the
judge?
A. They were on N.C.R. paper, a copy of an invoice-type receipt, and
on the receipt it indicated that property had been purchased by or
sold to the U.C.L.A. Medical Center and shipped to an address in
Hollywood Florida, and below that an authorization of "By Jerry Leaf."
Q. So, this looks like a shipping invoice where someone had sold
medical equipment to the U.C.L.A. Medical Center but had it shipped to
an address in Hollywood, Florida, in the United States?
A. Yes.
Q. The person approving that, his name on it was as Jerry Leaf?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, let's tell the Judge somewhat about Mr. Leaf.
What were you aware of Mr. Jerry Leaf's association being with
Alcor and with that facility at 12327 Doherty, if any?
A. Okay. On the occasions that we have been out at the Alcor
facility he has identified himself as the vice president of Alcor.
Q. All right. Do you know how long he has been the vice president of
Alcor?
A. At least since February of '87, when they opened at this location.
Q. Are you aware Alcor had previously operated at another facility in
Orange County, California.
A. Yes, we are.
Q. As far as you can tell was Mr. Leaf associated with Alcor at that
facility, also?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. Now, I want to just ask quickly two other names. Saul Kent, are
you aware of any association he has with Jerry Leaf and/or Alcor?
A. Yes. He is a member of Alcor; and we have spoken with him,
also, at the Alcor location here in Riverside.
Q. How about Steve Rudell?
A. Steve Rudell, we discovered a file on him at the Alcor facility
during our search. He is listed as a member of Alcor.
Q. Okay. Fine. Now, just briefly can you describe to us what kind
of operation or what kind of business facility is located that at
Alcor at 12327 from your observation of it?
A. At that location currently the are freezing human heads and
they currently have one human body frozen. They indicated they
are also doing animal research at that facility.
Q. Does it appear to be what is commonly called a cryonics facility?
A. Yes, it is.
Q. Now, previous to February of 1987, are you aware through your
investigation of another cryonics type of facility that was doing
business in Hollywood, Florida, United States of America?
A. Yes, we are.
Q. How are you aware of that, and tell us about that, please.
A. All right. Information on the death of Dora Kent and some of the
paperwork we have, there was an address listed in Hollywood Florida.
That address was investigated, and I contacted the Hollywood,
Florida, Police Department. They informed me in February of 1987, a
drug raid had gone down a that location at the Life Extension
Foundation, and Steve Rudell was arrested at that time in possession
of a pound of cocaine.
Q. Okay.
A. Now, Mr. Saul Kent was the president of the Life Extension
Foundation in Hollywood, Florida.
Q. All right. So, the connection there is that the two men you
mention, Saul Kent and Steve Rudell, were associated with the
Life Extension Foundation in Hollywood, Florida, and are also
presently members and associated with Alcor Corporation, 12327
Doherty Street, here in Riverside County, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Jerry Leaf is the vice president of the Alcor Foundation here
at Doherty Street in Riverside?
A. Correct.
Q. He is associated through that with Saul Kent and Steve Rudell?
A. Correct.
Q. In addition to that, when you were conducting your search in Alcor
in riverside did you find any information in their files about the
Hollywood, Florida, facility?
A. Yes, we did. In the Steve Rudell file there were a number of
newspaper articles written about the drug raid and the problems they
had experienced in Hollywood, Florida at that foundation.
Q. All right. Does it appear to you that the Life Extension
Corporation in Hollywood, Florida, is in the same town of Hollywood,
Florida, as the shipping invoices showing U.C.L.A. medical equipment
being sent there?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Now, let's go back to Mr. Jerry Leaf then again for a
movement.
*************************
[The last word here obviously should have been "moment." The
affidavit goes on with further and rather equivocal information from a
UCLA cop about Jerry and his lack of authority to spend UCLA money on
stuff shipped to Florida.]
The point to this long quote is that innocent activities (and Jerry's
were certainly that) can be given a criminal slant when an agent of
the state manages to associate you with people who have had serious
problems with the law. No question about it, the power of the
government *is* something to worry about.
(My response to this affidavit--when it was unsealed months later--was
a six page single space letter of protest to the judge, followed by a
phone call, a letter to the Grand Jury--which eventually helped spark
an investigation of the coroner's office--and a letter to the
commission which reviews judicial performance. I have an entire file
drawer full of letters I wrote that year on behalf of Alcor. If
someone really wants to see them, I could dig some of them out and
post them.)
It pains me to dig through these files. My guess is that Steve never
realized how much the background of Saul and Co. contributed to our
difficulties (which were very much *his* difficulties too) or he has
suppressed the memory. I don't claim the kind of conspiracy
construction you see in Kunzman's testimony (which led up to the second
and much more damaging raid) is fair, because it is not. I do think
it is about typical of what we can expect from police investigators.
(Many of you are aware of the Secret Service excesses such as Steve
Jackson was subjected to.) Even though it was plenty bad, the search
could have gone a lot worse than it did. Next time, we (including the
patients) might not be so lucky.
It is worth noting that the next night's postings contained unfettered
support for Saul by Brian Wowk (who was not in cryonics at the time),
and very cautious support for Saul by Thomas Donaldson who was deeply
involved in the mess.
In spite of my differences with Saul, I *strongly* support him in his
fight with the FDA. But I am acuity aware that people who are doing
things (which I consider moral) in defiance of silly governmental
regulations are forced by circumstances into violating a long list of
other laws, such as the tax and currency regulations. It becomes all
to easy for them to make light of actions that agents of the state
take very seriously. Mixing these with as culturally marginal an
activity as cryonics is a formula which has already blown up in our
faces.
In the light of the history I have pulled out of my files, do you
think I am justifiably concerned with Saul having a lot of influence
over Alcor?
Merry Christmas,
Keith Henson
(member of the board--at least for now)
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