X-Message-Number: 1510
Date: 24 Dec 92 21:13:46 EST
From: "Steven B. Harris" <>
Subject: CRYONICS & Barbiturates 

Ken Stone in message number 1496 says:

   >>Has anyone investigated the use of major sedatives to slow
neural function immediately before clinical death? ... I would
imagine that a lot of ischemic damage during cool-down (and
warm-up!) could be avoided by infusing sodium pentothal (e.g.)
into the blood before cardio-vascular failure occurs. Although
the idea is not without its problems (complications with revival,
added hassles from hostile coroners, etc.), I think the potential
gains from not having oxygen-starved neurons are pretty self-evi-
dent...<<

    And the answer is: yes, pentothal (sodium pentobarbital) is
given to cryonics patients during cool-down, and has been for
many years, for the very reasons you give.  

   And yes, needless to say, this practice has the potential to
cause hassles with coroners, and historically already has, in one
instance.  In early 1988 the presence of barbiturates detected
forensically in the autopsied post-cranial-remains of an Alcor
neurosuspendee went a long way toward instigating a murder
investigation and all-out attack on Alcor by state, local, and
federal authorities (yes, including our new-found friends, the
FDA).  The result was the search and seizure "sacking" of the
Alcor Riverside lab (twice!), the brief handcuffing and downtown
detention of some Alcor staff and one Alcor onlooker, many
threats by the coroner to thaw all patients under Alcor's care,
and finally, the flat refusal of the Board of Public Health to
grant death certificates to cryonicists for the next several
years.  It also led to zoning problems, PR problems, lost
records, many hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees
spent by Alcor, and (not least) the firing of the late Jerry Leaf
from his job at UCLA, something which did not exactly add to the
happiness of the brief span of life-as-we-know-it which Jerry was
to have left to him.  Actually, very few Alcor people close to
the center escaped the ka-ka storm caused by that trace of
pentothal.  For signing the death certificate of the afore-
mentioned barbiturated suspendee, for instance, and attributing
the death to various natural causes, one kindly but not-too-wise
Alcor physician (who shall mercifully remain nameless here) went
through an investigation by the California state medical board
that dragged out for four years.  

   So yes, to make the story short, barbiturates seem to have
quite a lot to offer in the way of neural protection, and yes,
they are still to this day being used by Alcor for that reason
(though for obvious reasons they cannot be given until death has
been officially and formally pronounced by the proper authority).
But yes, barbiturates also have significant social and legal
downside, since once given, it is often difficult to prove to the
skeptical just WHEN they were given.   You know how these things
are.  Even in a hospice setting, somebody can always ask if
something wasn't slipped in early so that everyone could go home
earlier.  We've paid quite a price for barbiturates at Alcor, and
no one can guarantee there may not yet be more to pay.

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