X-Message-Number: 1766
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: Re: cryonics: #1756-#1761
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 11:40:33 PST

Hi everyone:

The main problem with bringing in people who are close to dying is that of
possible legal complications with 3rd parties who might otherwise hope to
inherit from them. That holds for AIDS patients also. Enough bitter experience
has convinced a significant number of cryonicists (OK, I'm one) that 
regardless of anything they say, relatives (who aren't signed up themselves)
have very little interest in preserving or reviving anyone. And its important
to understand that relatives will lie not just to us but to themselves about
how much they want a suspension to go forward.

A second BIG problem with taking people who are close to dying comes because
it screws up the economics of suspensions. Someone who has been a long term
member, or at least signs on when there is no fatal health problem in sight,
commits themselves to paying a yearly membership fee. That fee helps to 
support the organization (as distinct from the patients). And the organization
needs support: without it, who is it who does the suspensions in the first
place? And particularly at the present state, with the still small number of
patients in suspension, anyone who tries to make a living out of watching over
suspension patients full time isn't going to make a very good living at all.

This means that those who come in at the last minute (again, AIDS patients or
not!) pay too little for the service they receive. In fact, it turns out that
one of the big cash hemmorhages for Alcor last year came from trying to 
suspend a patient of this kind: Alcor lost $10,000 on its attempt. It's easy
to say that we should simply raise our rates for such people, and hopefully
someday a method will be worked out in which we can do so --- but it's not
easy, politically or legally.

I am among those who believe that it is and has been a mistake to loosen the
former restrictions on last minute patients. I joined many years ago, before
there was any sign that I might get a brain tumor on the horizon. I'll also 
say that as near as I understand earlier cryonics history, one major mistake
made by the earlier (now defunct) groups was precisely to accept last minute
or even recently "dead" patients. It didn't work well financially then, and
there's no good reason to believe that it would work better now. At one time
Alcor had a very strict policy against it --- but Alcor has loosened that
policy, a bad idea all around.
				Best and long life to everyone,
					Thomas Donaldson

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