X-Message-Number: 4542 Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 21:32:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Methuselah <> Subject: Cancellable Suspension Services Contracts I appreciated reading the messages from Jim Yount of ACS and Mike Darwin of BPI, regarding the cancellation of their suspension services contract. Both were filled with expressions of continued good will. Included were a few facts as to what brought about the cancellation. Relevant excerpts follow, and after that, a few comments and questions from me. >From Jim Yount: > In Mike Darwin's notice of cancellation he indicated he needed more time > for research and felt the importance of that research warranted > cancellation of our contract to help provide the needed time. Although > Mike and BioPreservation have benefited significantly (as has ACS) from our > contracting, ACS can't hope to match the expected cash flow to BPI from > research contracts. > > In short, we continue to enjoy good > relations with Mike, and should his services again be made available to us, > on a contract basis, we are certainly interested. And from Mike Darwin: > I want to echo Jim Yount's comments, and add a few my own. > > But, back to the subject at hand. I enjoyed working with ACS very much, oddly > enough, more so than with any other cryonics organization I've dealt with. > > ACS always paid me well for my work, expressed gratitude and showed a genuine > eagerness to learn and grow. > > It was a difficult and painful decision to opt out of the ACS contract. I hope > that with the passage of a little more time, perhaps things will change so that > I can again offer my services to ACS members. While I fully appreciate the need for research and attention to it, everyone needs a refreshing break from time to time, and I would think a suspension would provide that. I have not read or heard about enough suspensions being done by BPI to make them a daily or even weekly grind. Without any intent of starting any rumors, flames, wars or any other ill will, I'm just honestly having a problem understanding this reason. If BPI is involved in research that is *so* important it is on the verge of some immense breakthrough, or whatever, what is supposed to happen to the poor ACS signup who happens to deanimate in the interim between contracts (assuming a new one happens sometime, which both parties said they would like to see occur)? Mr. Darwin says he hopes in "a little more time, perhaps things will change" - what things? Important research completed? Again, in the meantime, what are ACS signups supposed to do? The only other cryonics organization I know of which (presumably still) has a contract with BPI is CryoCare. Mr. Darwin said he enjoyed working with ACS more than any other organization - I assume this includes CryoCare? Is CryoCare's contract with BPI also cancellable without a reasonable period of advance notice? If not, why are they any different from ACS? And, assuming BPI still has a contract with CryoCare, why wasn't it cancelled the same time as the one with ACS, if "more time for research" is the real reason? Again, I'm a potential cryonics services customer, and am not yet "signed up" with any national organization. I'm still in the process of evaluating credentials, and it doesn't always seem to be easy to sort out the facts from the other stuff. My queries here are for no other reason than to determine the most reliable service provider. IMO, the highest level possible of reliability in providing suspension services is second in importance only to dependable long-term storage, in assessing the qualifications of a cryonics provider. I've looked at CryoCare, which motivates my interest in the questions above. Without detouring into the issue of "bundled" vs. "unbundled" organizational styles, both of which have many pros and cons, one thing is obvious here: if suspension services are contracted out, either the contracts need a longer cancellation-notice period, or multiple contracts are indicated, if not both. All comments welcome, including any by private email which will be kept in confidence for my personal benefit only. I would, however, encourage public factual postings for the benefit of all. Guy Gipson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4542