X-Message-Number: 6171 From: Brian Wowk <> Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 20:13:29 -0500 Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Reply to David Cosenza Re Timothy Leary David Cosenza writes: >But... *confused* Tim WAS a member of CryoCare and he WANTED your assistance, >so how do you justify that you offer services to people in your organization >that want them? Correction: We stand ready to offer services to people who want them and PAY for them. The one detail of this case that I notice has received no attention in this discussion is the fact that Mr. Leary recently (about two weeks ago) began altering his already-minimal cryonics funding. NO cryonics organization is obligated to freeze people if agreed-upon funding is removed. Legally we could have (and perhaps should have) immediately withdrawn from the case at that point. Similar remarks apply to Mr. Leary's repeated claims to national news media that he plans to be actively euthanized. CryoCare and BPI pleaded with him not to do this, but he did anyway (breaking a promise he made to me personally), creating a serious legal hazard for the BPI team. This also placed him in breach of contract, and would have been sufficient grounds to terminate his cryonics arrangements if we chose to do so. The refusal to accept free 24-hour nursing care was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. Getting back to Guy Gipson's question, CryoCare is flexible, but not flexible enough to be twisted into a pretzel. > ...and as for Leary's unexpected >(to you anyway) renunciation of cryonics, it is plain to see that he has >been alienated to the extent that he wants nothing more to do with you or >anybody else that is going to treat him like garbage, and I can certainly >understand that feeling! If Mr. Leary was treated like garbage, then we should all be treated like such garbage by our cryonics organization. What other cryonics organization ever has * organized the medical care of a patient when he didn't even have a primary care physician * brought in medical experts from the opposite coast to visit with the patient, and consult on the case * gave medical advice that would have painlessly extended the patient's life by two years (if it was taken). * performed regular nursing visits over a period of months Also, if Mr. Leary's renunciation of cryonics was due to him wanting "nothing more to do with you or anybody else that is going to treat him like garbage" then presumably that includes Alcor, right? Alcor management was informed last weekend that CryoCare stands ready and willing to transfer any remaining life insurance proceeds to Alcor if Alcor and CryoCare could have persuaded him to switch. >Smoke screen. You are saying this because he backed out, but there is >much that you are purposely withholding from us to protect yourself and >CryoCare and I think it stinks! But, Dave, regular readers of CryoNet already know from your posts that there is an UNLIMITED amount of damaging information that CryoCare purposely withholds to protect its reputation. :-) Repeating this for every new case that comes along is redundant. Besides, if innuendo is the order the day, then I will add that there is much about this case that CryoCare is purposely withholding to protect people *outside* CryoCare. > The version that I got from Tim's friends >was that Mike Darwin lectured them and generally had a problem getting >along with them which is why *YOU* were begging Arel to create a bridge >between the fun loving compassionate people in that house and the tight >assed martinettes at BPI and CryoCare! Aye, and there's the rub. Fun and compassion are oxymoronic in the context of serious illness, especially serious illness and cryonics. Find me anyone who calls caring for a dying person fun, and I'll show you a person who is not providing compassionate care. Going out partying, leaving a patient unattended, is fun (at least to some people). Staying at home to help the patient in and out of bed is a drag. Designing Internet Web pages to broadcast a live suicide is fun (at least to some people). Going to visit the Medical Examiner to discuss how to avoid autopsy after a planned suicide is a drag. Any casual observer of the national news media, or visitor of the Leary Web pages (http://www.leary.com), cannot help but notice that Mr. Leary has been trying really, really hard to make death fun. I truly regret that CryoCare was not able to make cryonics sufficiently fun to fit in with his agenda. (According to today's LA Times article, the proximal cause of his cancellation was BPI's inadequate "sense of humor".) Unfortunately, cryonics (done right) is about as much fun as a double heart-lung transplant, and I don't know any way to change that. >All I can infer from what you have said here is that once Leary is dead, it'll >be kind of hard for him to sue you if you do publish a load of crap. And once >you've dumped a member OR a member has dumped you, you don't still have >consent for public disclosure because your contract is void. We have a completely separate document from Mr. Leary that authorizes CryoCare to publicize details of the preparations for his case. This will be done in a factual, professional manner without any intention to harm Mr. Leary's reputation. The report will detail verifiable FACTS (not loads of crap) that hold important lessons for all cryonics organizations. *************************************************************************** Brian Wowk CryoCare Foundation 1-800-TOP-CARE President Human Cryopreservation Services http://www.cryocare.org/cryocare/ Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6171