X-Message-Number: 2444
Subject: CRYONICS New Cryonics Organization
From:  (Charles Platt)
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 93 00:39:55 EDT

On Saturday, October 23rd, a meeting was held in Chicago to 
announce tentative plans for establishing CryoCare, a new 
cryonics organization. Hosting the meeting were Saul Kent, 
Brenda Peters, and Courtney Smith. 

A similar meeting was held in New York City on Sunday, 
October 24th, co-hosted by the same people with the addition 
of Charles Platt. Thirty-six people attended the New York 
meeting. (I don't have figures for the meeting in Chicago.) 

CryoCare will contract with other newly formed, independent 
organizations for the three major functions of cryonics: 
standby/stabilization/suspension, long-term patient storage, 
and investment of patient funds. Clients of CryoCare will be 
free to select the service providers of their choice, where a 
choice exists now or in the future. Competition will provide 
a motivating force among service providers, and CryoCare will 
withdraw its endorsement from service providers that do not 
meet minimum standards. This "separation of powers" provides 
greater security and a stronger incentive for maintaining 
quality than has ever existed in cryonics. In addition, the 
use of a separate, bona-fide trust to invest patient funds 
will provide insurance against the misuse of those funds at 
any time in the future. 

Reaction at the New York meeting was very positive. People at 
the meeting seemed uniformly eager to look ahead and avoid 
any further "gripe sessions" about current cryonics 
providers. Issues relating to Alcor, for instance, were 
barely mentioned. 

Some people made suggestions which will be incorporated into 
the final organization plan. The plan is still tentative at 
this stage, but Mike Darwin's company, BioPreservation, which 
is CryoCare's choice as a provider of suspension services, 
already has almost all the necessary equipment to conduct 
suspensions. Much of this equipment is more sophisticated and 
more modern than can be found in any other cryonics 
organization. 

A detailed progress report describing the proposed details of 
CryoCare was handed out at the meetings. A dozen copies of 
this progress report are still available, including color 
photographs of BioPreservation's operating room, its 
building, and one of its two ambulances. Anyone who wants a 
copy of the progress report can obtain it by sending email to 
, while supplies last. 

Sign-up paperwork for CryoCare is not yet ready, but should 
be available well before the end of the year. Several people 
have called asking whether to make (or renew) suspensions 
elsewhere, or wait for CryoCare. Our advice is that if you 
want immediate coverage, by all means make (or continue) 
arrangements with the cryonics organization of your choice; 
but if you are interested in the CryoCare plan, try to keep 
your future options open.  

CryoCare has already been endorsed, supported, and partially 
funded by more than thirty cryonics activists, many of them 
with exceptional professional skills. BioPreservation, 
directed by Mike Darwin and Steve Harris, MD, has unmatched 
technical capability, professional medical personnel, and 
facilities. This, we think, is the rational future of 
cryonics. 

If you would like to receive future updates regarding 
CryoCare, please send email to , and your 
name will be added to a temporary mail list for this purpose 
only. 

--Charles Platt 

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