X-Message-Number: 19195 Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 05:40:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Information about Cases I am interested to learn from Bob Ettinger the rationale for CI's preference not to publish full case reports. Lack of detailed information about cryonics cases is of course not just a situation prevailing at CI; it has been (from my perspective) a problem at all organizations from time to time. During some Alcor cases in the past two years, a relatively small amount of data were collected, and virtually none was published. Alcor is now moving actively to improve this situation, and I am participating to a modest extent (I have written a report of a recent Alcor case, which will be published in the next issue of Alcor's quarterly magazine). Personally I believe that as much information as possible should be collected and published. If this is a known policy, team members will be more highly motivated. If an organization has a strict requirement to make all details public (within limits imposed by any desire of the patient for confidentiality), the organization will gain respect for its integrity and will never be tempted to cover up its errors. If logistical successes or encouraging clinical data are shared, we can all benefit from the knowledge. If we see how errors occurred, we will be better able to avoid them in the future. Since human lives are at stake, this is not a trivial matter. I absolutely believe that cryonics, like government, is best done as publicly as possible. There is an obvious comparison, here, between the US and Soviet space programs in the 1960s. The US program was fully revealed, including all errors and disasters. The Soviets only announced their successes. History suggests that the US did not suffer from its policy in the long term. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19195