X-Message-Number: 1272
From: 
Subject: CRYONICS
Date: Mon,  5 Oct 92 03:04:10 PDT

Sigh, it is 2:30 in the morning, and I just got back from an Alcor 
board meeting after 7 hours of driving.  But, Daniel Hitt asked a very 
legitimate question.

>That is, what auditing procedures (for the bodies, not just the finances)
>are done?  Are there independent auditors?

You need a little history to understand why this is such a touchy 
point.  The Cryonics Society of California failed in the late 
70s-early 80s, taking half a dozen patients into irreversible loss. 
Many Alcor policies and customs to prevent another such failure stem 
from that time.  Alcor is as open as possible in regard to members (or 
other interested parties) inspecting the dewars, the logs of liquid 
nitrogen added, invoices and paid checks for liquid nitrogen, and the 
like.  

>After all, the dewars are opaque (i suppose), and if one were suspended,
>one might not want one's dewar to be opened for a stranger to inspect.

They are opaque indeed.  But, with the lid off, you can see down under 
the LN2, and at least count the patients.  The whole body patients are 
in sleeping bags to prevent warming up (and fractures) when they must 
be transfered from dewar to dewar.  The head-only patients are 
protected by aluminum cans, which can also be counted.  There is, by 
the way, a fairly elaborate published record (by patient number) on 
almost all of the patients. 

>If there are no auditors, how can a cryonics organization both
>promise privacy to the suspendees and also prove to
>potential clients that is keeping frozen bodies, and will keep theirs?

While the two are in conflict, we manage the best we can.  You are 
welcome to visit almost any time at the Alcor facility in Riverside, 
California.

Keith Henson  Member of the board

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