"Organization battles to freeze woman's head"

http://www.newsfirst...al-womans-head/

Organization battles to freeze local woman's head

By Greg Boyce

Posted : Feb 18, 2010 5:15 PM
Updated: Feb 18, 2010 7:17 PM

An Arizona organization wants to remove, and freeze the head of an
elderly Colorado Springs woman who died last week, honoring an
agreement it had with the woman. Mary Robbins, 71, of Colorado
Springs died on February 9, after a two-month battle with cancer. Her
body remains in a local mortuary. According to her family, in 2006 she
had signed an agreement with a company called Alcor Life Extension
Foundation to have her body frozen. According to the agreement Alcor
would get $50,000 from her estate. The freezing process is called
cryonics and as defined on the Alcor website is, "the science of using
ultra-cold temperature to preserve human life with the intent of
restoring good health when technology becomes available to do so."

According to daughter Darlene Robbins of Pueblo, her mother changed
her mind about the cryonic process a couple of days before her death.
She changed her will and removed Alcor as a beneficiary and removed
the necklace that Alcor clients wear. But Robbins said the day after
her mother died, Alcor laid claim to the body. Since then an Alcor
representative, according to Robbins, has been packing her mother's
head in dry ice each day at the mortuary. Robbins says she can't bear
the thought of her mother's head being removed and stored in Arizona.

The case will be heard in probate court in Colorado Springs Friday.
Family attorney Robert Scranton of Colorado Springs says the
proceeding is a status conference and will likely be brief. He does
not expect any testimony to be heard.

Alcor is represented by the law firm Holme Roberts and Owen, which has
offices in many states including Arizona and Colorado. Our attempts
to reach the attorney in this case, as well as Alcor, were not
successful Thursday.

Alcor is a non-profit organization located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It
was founded in 1972.

Edited by advancedatheist, 19 February 2010 - 03:07 PM.

http://www.krdo.com/....asp?S=12015256

"Darlene says, "I want to have closure I want to be able to grieve for my mom in a normal way without fighting a legal battle give me back my mother."

In other words, she'd rather see her mother dead than live in uncertainty.

http://www.krdo.com/....asp?S=12015256

"Darlene says, "I want to have closure I want to be able to grieve for my mom in a normal way without fighting a legal battle give me back my mother."

In other words, she'd rather see her mother dead than live in uncertainty.

Where did this psychobabble about "closure" come from, any way? I don't recall hearing about it before about 20 years ago. And why should relatives' psychological discomfort, a purely arbitrary and subjective state, interfere with someone's cryonic suspension?

Where did this psychobabble about "closure" come from, any way? I don't recall hearing about it before about 20 years ago. And why should relatives' psychological discomfort, a purely arbitrary and subjective state, interfere with someone's cryonic suspension?

I think the $50K may have something to do with it. "Closure" is merely a euphemistic excuse.

Where did this psychobabble about "closure" come from, any way? I don't recall hearing about it before about 20 years ago. And why should relatives' psychological discomfort, a purely arbitrary and subjective state, interfere with someone's cryonic suspension?

I think the $50K may have something to do with it. "Closure" is merely a euphemistic excuse.

An Alcor suspension costs more than that. Apparently more of us may have to bribe our relatives as part of the cost of getting into cryotransport.

Because of other negative publicity (and the outcome of this case may not help Alcor's reputation) and the depressed economy, I fear that we'll see more cases where hostile relatives try to interfere with suspensions.

This also brings up the question of neuro-only suspension once again. Even though it is theoretically possible to regrow a body for someone (many replacement organs can already be grown in 2010), it is still a weird concept for most people.

Someone correct me, but doesn't CI vitrify the head and "straight freeze" the body or something to that effect, in order to remove the weirdness factor of having a head removed. It would seem to boil down to cost and storage space. Maybe it would be worth it to drop the neuro-only option from the public sphere. While leaving it as an option for committed cryonicists.

As far as having hostile relatives, I think a lot of it has to do with the cryonicists not being fully open about their commitment and plans for after legal death (although I don't know about this case). There is also the problem of not being able to suspend a person until legal death which leaves many patients vulnerable as the old and suffering are not always in a state of mental clarity. They might be more susceptible to manipulation of their cryonics-hostile relatives.

This might be bad press for Alcor, but they HAVE to honor the contract and find out the truth behind the intentions of the patient if such intentions can be divined from any evidence during her last days alive. If they just walk away, it will not inspire much confidence in the cryonics community that they will work to ensure a good preservation of future patients - from the legal angle.

The woman's daughter, Darlene, acknowledges that her mother had cryonics arrangements well in advance. But Darlene claims her mom changed her mind just before she died. You can find the video interviewing Darlene from a Colorado Springs TV news show here:

Battle Underway For Head and Brain Of Colorado Springs Woman

This sucks! guess anyone in cryonics should go to the court when they are making cryonics arrangements and sign for something that disallows any questioning of their will to be cryopreserved!!
I find it highly doubtful that someone will change their mind about cryonics JUST before they "die".
If her daughter is doing it for the money, that's disgusting. If she's doing it for some sort of moral or grieving thing, I guess when she might sign for cryonics they might have difficulty to find the brain they are supposed to preserve.

The "closure" psychology is interesting now that cryonics and longevity science is advancing. I suppose it made sense in the past when there was no hope for revival/repair, but I think that will change in the near future.

Apparently the news is on digg's front page here
and there is some discussion here

Edited by b0gger, 22 February 2010 - 10:06 PM.

What was the issue?

I think this woman must be preserved because it's her will, no matter how fast they frost her head.

They say there was the same story about two daughters and faked paper about changed will. Doctor who sighn the paper was in love with one daughter. I wonder if it's true and if there is a proof link.

http://www.alcor.org...2010-02-22.html

ALCOR PRESS RELEASE

-----

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More Information Contact:
Clifford Wolff, Attorney at Law, Counsel for
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Inc.
Email: cwolff@wolfflawfirm.com
Phone: 954-565-5040

Alcor Life Extension Foundation Attempts
To Fulfill Wishes of Colorado Springs Woman

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - February 22, 2010

On February 9, 2010, Mary Robbins was pronounced legally dead. Ms. Robbins was a long-term member of Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Alcor is a science-based state-of-the-art research facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Alcor preserves bodies at ultra-cold temperatures to achieve biostasis at a temperature at which all cell deterioration stops.

Prior to death, Ms. Robbins made a valid, written donation of her body to Alcor pursuant to the Colorado Disposition of Last Remains Act and Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Ms. Robbins wanted to be cryopreserved, and she made her long-standing intentions known for years. Additionally, she made financial arrangements to pay for cryopreservation using a $50,000 annuity with Alcor as the beneficiary.

Ms. Robbins's family is now claiming that her long-standing request to be cryopreserved was changed shortly before she died. However, Alcor has yet to receive any written documentation changing Ms. Robbins's wish to be cryopreserved.

Eric Bentley, the Colorado attorney for Alcor stated, "Alcor simply wants to fulfill the documented wishes of Ms. Robbins to be cryopreserved. Ms. Robbins was competent when she made arrangements to be cryopreserved, she expressed that intention in writing, and Alcor wants to carry out her wishes."

Alcor intends to state its case in court pursuant to legally binding documents, the governing statutes, and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Ms. Robbins is being maintained at the temperature of dry ice (-79 degrees Celsius) at a Colorado Springs funeral home pending resolution of the matter.

False Statements

It has been alleged in news media stories that Alcor requires invasive medical interventions to be performed prior to legal death, including placement of tubes in the nose and throat, and administration of medications. This is incorrect. Alcor requires no such interventions. Alcor does not participate in the medical care of patients, or perform any medical interventions prior to legal death. The objective of Alcor's procedures is to limit injury to the brain after legal pronouncement of death.

About the Alcor Life Extension Foundation

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1972, is the world leader in cryonics, and cryonics technology. Cryonics is the science of using ultra-cold temperatures to cryopreserve humans. The intent is that technologically advanced scientific procedures may one day be able to revive cryopreserved humans and restore them to good health. Alcor performed its first human cryopreservation in 1976. Since then, Alcor has engaged in long-term care of cryopreserved patients as well as cryopreservation. Among Alcor's scientific achievements is the use of advanced cryoprotectant formulas capable of vitrification, which enables cryopreservation to take place with reduced damage to the patient. Today, Alcor has more than 900 members and 90 cryopreserved patients. The public is welcome to attend regularly scheduled tours of the Alcor facility. For more information about Alcor and cryonics, visit www.alcor.org.
©2010 Alcor Life Extension Foundation. All rights reserved | 1-877-GO-A

5 days have passed. If cryonics ever works and this woman's daughter is alive by then, i hope her conscience gets really heavy for a long time for having killed her mother.

Edited by forever freedom, 23 February 2010 - 04:26 PM.

5 days have passed. If cryonics ever works and this woman's daughter is alive by then, i hope her conscience gets really heavy for a long time for having killed her mother.

Her mother was already dead...anyway, i agree with you, if cryonics ever works and she is alive, then his conscience will get really heavy. Still, i think she is making all for money, as she wanst to get back the 50.000$ of the insurance...

It is a well-worded press release, but unfortunately the mainstream media outlets will probably not "latch on to it" because it is not sensational enough. The sensationalism is coming from the other side. Hopefully the law/courts will come down in favor of Mrs Robbin's documented wishes to be cryo-preserved.

They settled. See Alcor homepage. Alcor receives the remains of the cryo patient, and the daughter Darlene got some money, I believe. Darlene insists it's not about the money, but having "closure" by giving her mom a proper burial. I think it's about the $50,000.

For cryo experts, what are the chances of revival of brain exposed to room temperature, after 5 days?! while they battle in court, with only some dry ice to keep it cool? Won't brain have rotted?

They settled. See Alcor homepage. Alcor receives the remains of the cryo patient, and the daughter Darlene got some money, I believe. Darlene insists it's not about the money, but having "closure" by giving her mom a proper burial. I think it's about the $50,000.

For cryo experts, what are the chances of revival of brain exposed to room temperature, after 5 days?! while they battle in court, with only some dry ice to keep it cool? Won't brain have rotted?

The temperature profile of this case was not as bad as may seem. There was transfer to a +4 degC cooler approximately 3 hours post-mortem, and freezing in dry ice begun approximately 40 hours later. This paper in stroke

http://stroke.ahajou...t/full/33/3/816

shows substantial preservation of brain cell structure and intact organelles after 24 hours of ischemia at +37 degC, so 40 hours spent mostly near freezing should be much better. The worst aspect of this case was freezing without cryoprotectant ("straight freezing"), the effects of which are still poorly understood, but certainly much worse than freezing or vitrifying with cryoprotectant present.

Because no cryoprotectant was present to allow cell contents to remain liquid at -79 degC (dry ice temperature), damage from being held in the solidified frozen state in dry ice for three weeks would be low and probably negligible. The main source of damage was the initial freezing itself. Things would have been much better if after legal death Alcor had been allowed to stabilize, transport, and perfuse the patient with cryoprotectant as the paperwork in this case gave Alcor the right to do.