The big news this month is the new contract between CI and Suspended Animation for pre-mortem Standby and post-mortem Transport. Standby and Transport can greatly reduce ischemic damage (body tissue damage due to lack of oxygen and nutrient after blood circulation stops).

Ischemic damage begins as soon as the heart stops at the time of deanimation. Most people do not deanimate suddenly and with no warning. More often death happens in a hospital or hospice situation. If a Standby team can immediately provide heart-lung support and ice-bath cool-down, tissue damage can be minimized. Ischemic damage to blood vessels is most critical in cryonics because the ability to perfuse with the cryoprotectants necessary to reduce ice formation is severely compromised and may be nearly impossible after an hour of ischemic damage to blood vessels.

Standby, however, may be expensive for most of our Members and Suspended Animation Standby cannot be paid through life insurance. I hope to find other means of reducing ischemic damage for our Members who cannot afford Suspended Animation. The lack of availability of Suspended Animation Standby outside of continental North America is also a problem that I want to be able to address.

Making our vitrification protocol available to all of our Members -- including those in Europe and Australia -- is another of my priorities. Currently our plan is for CI Members in the United States to be packed in water-ice and shipped to Michigan for vitrification solution perfusion. We could do the same for overseas patients if we were confident that we had an organ preservation blood substitute that could be perfused into the patient before shipment and would retain tissue viability for 48 hours. Dr. Pichugin has thus far failed in his efforts to find an organ preservation solution that is much better than control for 24 hours or that maintains *any* viability for 48 hours. A better organ preservation solution would also be of benefit for patients being shipped to Michigan in water ice in the United States. Research donations (payable to The Immortalist Society and tax-deductible) are always welcome to help us solve our technical problems.

On Sunday, May 1st Alcor President Joe Waynick visited the Cryonics Institute, giving him the opportunity to meet Robert Ettinger, Ben Best and other CI Members, as well as the opportunity to see the CI Facility itself. Joe is aggressive, friendly, outgoing, and accomplishment-oriented, qualities which undoubtedly make him very effective as Alcor's President. He attempted to follow-up on the apparent failure of the agreements made at the2002 CryoSummit and seemed interested in pursuing formal agreements.

The combination of our more informal approach and my insistence on clarifying details (and my frequent use of the word "but") may have resulted in a clash of cultures. Nonetheless, a genial spirit arose and some ideas were proposed which may result in substantive cooperation between Alcor and CI in the near future.

Several adjustments are being made to our financial policies. Since the end of March, all of the money Members have pre-paid for cryopreservation services have been placed in a separate account with Treasury Direct -- which is invested in T-Bills. If necessary, we could refund all of the pre-paid money on short notice. Moreover, all pre-paid cryopreservation money sent after March 31, 2004 is being treated as a liability rather than as income.

To simplify our accounting, the CI fiscal year is being converted to match the calendar year. To make this conversion, our next fiscal year will be shortened to the April 1, 2005 to December 31, 2005 period. With my assistance (and the work I was able to do with Quicken) CI Director and Treasurer Pat Heller was able to finish creating the financial statements for the April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005 fiscal year on April 27th, a phenomenal accomplishment for which he deserves great praise.

In mid-March the Cryonics Institute signed-up its 500th Member and the total now stands at 520 (a gain of 34 Members in two months!). Nonetheless, it has been nearly 6 months since CI received its 68th and last patient -- a sad state of affairs in light of the number of people who have died in the world in the last 6 months without being cryopreserved. We had seven new patients in 2004 in addition to those we received from ACS. Admittedly, after having tried our vitrification protocol on the dogs of two of our Members, we are awaiting the opportunity to apply vitrification to a human patient.

There was a misprint in the Nov-Dec 2004 issue of THE IMMORTALIST on page 20 in the article about Life Extension Foundation research. Rabbit kidneys were cooled to -45°C with subsequent survival and good function (not -450C, as printed) and kidneys were cooled as low as -150°C (not -1500C, as printed). The error may have been due to a software conversion of the degree sign to a zero.

The Cryonics Institute has successfully concluded negotiations for a contract to offer Standby and Transport assistance from the Florida cryopreservation research company Suspended Animation, Inc. CI Members who wish to receive these services must provide additional funding, part of which can be through life insurance.

"Standby" refers to a team of fully-equipped cryopreservation professionals waiting by the bedside of a cryonics patient close to legal death or at risk of legal death. If the cryonics patient deanimates and is pronounced legally dead by a physician or qualified nurse, then the Standby team will immediately begin the application of cryonics stabilization procedures, including ice-bath cooling and the use of a heart-lung device.

"Transport" includes moving the cryonics patient from the location where death was pronounced to the CI Facility in Michigan. During Transport the Suspended Animation team will continue to apply procedures intended to prevent damage to tissues, particularly the brain. These procedures will include blood washout and may include cryoprotectant perfusion (depending upon whether the patient wishes CI or Suspended Animation to do the final perfusion).

Details of the Standby and Transport Services Protocols and Fees can be found on the Cryonics Institute website:

http://www.cryonics.org/SA/Suspended_Animation.html See page 8 for fee schedule

The normal funding mechanism for CI Members is to have a basic fee for perfusion, cool- down and long-term storage -- currently $28,000 Option One and $35,000 Option Two. Additionally, for Members not living in the Michigan area CI has a Local Help Rider to pay for services of a remote funeral director, which may include heparinization, some CPR, packing in ice and transport to Michigan. For the Local Help Rider CI Members are expected to allocate additional funding -- up to $5,000 in the US and up to $15,000 overseas. This can be included in their insurance or in prepayment.

The Suspended Animation agreement is simply an extension of the Local Help Rider. The SA Rider not only provides for payment for a remote funeral director (whom Suspended Animation would work-with and pay), but for post-mortem standby and transport. Formally, the new agreement is not much different from the usual Local Help Rider except that the protocol is more extensive, the price is higher and the Rider would be (initially) restricted to US Members. Insurance funding is currently only available for procedures that Suspended Animation performs after pronouncement of death.

Pre-mortem Standby must be funded through pre-payment or a special bank account. CI Members interested in Suspended Animation Standby should examine the information available on the CI Website at http://www.cryonics.org/SA/SA_documents.html

*****

The Cryonics Institute and Suspended Animation, Inc. have signed an agreement defining terms under which CI members may choose to receive standby/transport assistance using personnel, equipment, and medications supplied by SA.

Suspended Animation, located in south Florida, is pursuing research and development to enhance standby procedures. Our assistance for participating members of CI will include: Paramedics and other trained personnel who will travel to the bedside. Medications, provided under contract with Critical Care Research, to mitigate ischemic injury Mechanical cardiopulmonary support and ventilation via a custom-designed Michigan Instruments Thumper. Rapid cooling in a newly modified portable ice bath. Vascular access by a surgeon followed by washout with a transport solution immediate air transportation to the cryonics organization of which the patient is a member. A choice of whole-body glycerolization or the new vitrification solution developed in-house by CI.

While we expect that future technology will enable cell repair, we also believe that severe damage caused by a prolonged period of warm ischemia may prevent repair under any imaginable scenario. Therefore we feel that prompt treatment after legal death is highly desirable.

CI members who wish to receive treatment through Suspended Animation will be required to execute additional paperwork, primarily to establish funding arrangements. Some prepayment will be required to guarantee standby deployment.

For further details, including copies of relevant documents, a schedule of fees, and a detailed protocol describing the procedures that Suspended Animation has established, please see the Cryonics Institute website:

http://www.cryonics.org/SA/SA_documents.html

To receive email updates every two to four weeks directly from Suspended Animation, describing our activities and our progress toward enhanced standby capability, please send your request to info@suspendedinc.com [info@suspendedinc.com], stating the name of the cryonics organization of which you are a member.

Suspended Animation does not provide service to the general public. We are a research and development company partnering with cryonics organizations that are interested in refining the process of human cryopreservation, which remains an experimental procedure at this time. Currently we have a contractual agreement with the American Cryonics Society in addition to our new agreement with the Cryonics Institute.

*********************************

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cryonics Institute will be held Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 2pm at the main facility, 24355 Sorrentino Court, Clinton Township, Michigan 48035. The Annual General Meeting of The Immortalist Society will immediately follow the AGM of CI on the same Sunday. Meetings generally last most of the afternoon.

For driving directions, use MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/) or send e-mail to the CI Facility [CIHQ@aol.com – CIHQ@aol.com] or phone 1-586-791-5961. The meetings are open to the general public, but we do request that we be informed ahead of time if you wish to attend (by the above e-mail address, phone number or mailing address).

Meetings offer a great opportunity to see the facility, to meet other members, to get a sense of the status of the Cryonics Institute and to see Officers, Directors & Staff.

As announced, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cryonics Institute will be Sunday, 25-Sept-2005. There are currently 12 Directors. Four of the twelve are elected to their positions every three years. The 4 Directors up for re-election this year are:

Ben Best

Joseph Kowalsky

SR Luyckx

John de Rivaz

Any CI Member who is an Option One Member or has been a paid-up Option Two Member for at least two years is eligible to vote for Directors. A Director candidate must be nominated by another CI Member who is qualified to vote, beforehand. It would be acceptable for someone to announce candidacy on this forum and to then be nominated by someone else on this forum.

A candidate need not attend the AGM to be elected.

Although it is not a requirement for voting, to be a CI Director, a CI Member must have a fully-funded Cryonic Suspension Agreement in place. An important qualification for a Director candidate is active use of e-mail insofar as most decisions are based on discussions held by e-mail. There is no requirement for physical presence at any meeting, so geography is not a limitation. (Two of our Directors currently live in the UK.)

It is not too early to be giving thought to who might make a suitable Director or who might want to run for the office.

It seems likely that all the existing Directors will be candidates.

The AGM will be held at the CI facility in Michigan, but most voting must be done beforehand by mailed proxies because not enough Members attend the AGM to constitute a quorum.

The mailing of proxies will be done in August along with a meeting announcement. By that time all Director candidates should have submitted a 100-word statement in support of their candidacy.

As of 29-Apr-2005 the Cryonics Institute has 520 Members. Membership in the Cryonics Institute is the prerequisite for creating a funded contract which can be used for cryopreservation purposes.

Of the 520 Members, 201 have executed contracts and established funding for those contracts. Of those 201 funded cryopreservation Members, 146 are Option One ($28,000 minimum) and 55 are Option Two ($35,000 minimum).

The primary mode of funding for the 146 Option One cryopreservation Members can be classified as follows:

..............117 Insurance

...............15 Prepaid

................2 Trusts

...............12 Other

The primary mode of funding for the 55 Option Two cryopreservation Members can be classified as follows:

...............52 Insurance

................3 Other

In the vast majority of cases the primary mode of funding is the only mode of funding. "Other" in most cases refers to Pay-on-Death accounts, a mode of funding which I am seeking to discourage.

I summarize number of Members having amounts of funding in a non-cumulative notation where each increasing inequality shown excludes previously shown lesser amounts:

.............OPTION

...........ONE...TWO

<..28,000.....4......0

=..28,000....16.....0

<..30,000.....5......0

=..30,000....16.....0

<..35,000....15.....1

=..35,000....12.....4

<..40,000.....7......3

<..50,000....14.....7

=..50,000....26....19

<.100,000....13.....9

=.100,000.....8.....9

<.200,000.....5.....2

<.300,000.....3.....0

=.500,000.....2.....1

I mistakenly stated in the last membership report that most of the Members funded at $35,000 were Option Two. It appears that more Option One Members are more at risk for funding at the bare minimums, not allowing extra money for local funeral director services or shipping (services which are not covered by the minimums and are required for all who live outside the Michigan area).

Ben Best

*****

The Immortalist Society recently received a $10,000 donation. The donor has made several large donations in the past, and as in the past, has always requested that his name not be disclosed.

*****

This novel contains much speculation about future science and society. It explains the case for cryonics by presenting in graphical form the lives of people who benefit from cryopreservation. Much that is factual about cryonics and many of the real issues concerning cryonics can be learned from this novel.

Ben Best

*****

Most Cryonicists are familiar with Oregon’s Assisted Suicide Law. It’s been on the books for seven years, and it’s still the only state in the country that allows doctors to write lethal prescriptions for terminally ill patients who want to control the time and place of their death. A report in Time’s April 4^th edition explores the issue fully.

Since the law requires that patients be fully conscious and able to administer their own drug, it wouldn’t have had an effect on the Schaivo case. But the same religious conservatives that were so vocal in the Schaivo case are aiming their sights at Oregon. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a Bush Administration challenge to the Oregon law. The White House wants to revoke the license of any doctor who writes a lethal prescription, arguing that federal drug laws overrule states rights to regulate medical practice.

Meanwhile, legislative committees in Vermont and California will vote this month on whether to follow Oregon’s lead.

While the law is popular, few people take advantage of it. In seven years only 208 people have used it to end their life. For many patients, the drugs are a form of insurance. They can take the medicine if the pain gets so bad, or if they deteriorate to the point that they feel ready to go. Despite the comparative ease with which the suicide statute has become a part of mainstream care in Oregon; many patients seeking lethal drugs still have to shop for a doctor. Catholic hospitals and even some non-denominational ones forbid their Physician employees from writing the prescription.

A growing number of physicians seem agreeable to helping their patients end their lives. And they’re not all in Oregon. "Aid in dying happens in every state," says Assemblywoman Patty Berg, co-sponsor of the California bill. Many doctors admit to giving so called terminal sedation, raising drug levels high enough to induce a fatal coma. Others simply increase the morphine dose until the patient stops breathing.

While the Oregon law has aroused interest among cryonicists, to our knowledge no one has taken advantage of it.

John Bull

*****

Robert Ettinger's book THE PROSPECT OF IMMORTALITY has been out-of-print for quite some time. This is the book that launched the cryonics movement when it was published in 1962/1964.

The new edition is published/edited by Charles Tandy and includes contributions from Jim Yount and Michael Perry that give historical context to the book.

This new edition should be available soon-- sometime in May, perhaps -- but it is already being listed on Amazon.com and can be ordered now for shipment when available: