X-Message-Number: 9790
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:58:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: "B. F. Shelton" <>
Subject: CryoCare Reliability Concerns

On Mon, 25 May 1998, Brenda Peters wrote (Cryonet #9768):

> I feel fortunate to be part of an elite group of individuals signed up with
> Cryocare who will receive all the benefits of this resarch and therefore
> have the best chance at survival of any other group of people or species on
> the planet. I'm sorry that though there are several hundred people who call
> themselves cryonicists, it is probably only a few of us (who chose
> CryoCare) who will get anything approximating a medically ethical,
> scientificaly viable cryopreservation. All others will be reduced to
> relying on the "great god nanotech" and if you've ever relied on a god
> before, well, you know what that's like.
> 
> God speed to all of you, which ever lottery ticket you've purchased, and if
> you can still sign up with CryoCare, without some huge surcharge, my best
> advice is to do it today, for tomorrow it may be impossible or it may cost
> a forture (for which it will be worth).

A couple of years ago an acquaintance of mine had a set of CryoCare signup
documents, and I looked them over myself from the viewpoint of a
prospective customer.  One item sent up a red flag:  CryoCare reserves the
option to increase its fee at any time in the future, to those currently
signed up.

I remember thinking at the time that this pretty much negates the
usefulness of funding one's cryopreservation with a fixed-payout insurance
policy.  If the fee is raised above the policy value and no other funds
are available, one's signup funding is delinquent, and no amount of
superior technology would make up for a failure to provide it.

It also occurred to me that those who could afford to pay the entire fee
in advance, would be in similar jeopardy, unless they happen to have
other resources of undetermined amount that would suffice to meet a fee
increase.

Cryonics organizations that do not increase the fee to a signed-up
customer/member, appear to attempt to stay solvent through growth,
investments, endowments, caps on technological expense, etc.  Despite
obvious disadvantages connected with some of these, it is easy to see why
many feel they are a better gamble than to risk being "priced out" of any
cryopreservation at all, after being signed up and paying annual dues for
years or decades.

Does anyone know whether CryoCare still has this fee increase option in
their contracts with individuals for cryopreservation services?

On another related matter, does anyone know how CryoCare proposes to
provide services after its contract with Biopreservation Inc. expires (if
I'm not mistaken, the principals of that company have declared they will
spend all their resources on research)?  Will they be using this new
proposed company "BioTransport" which Alcor has been promoting?

B.F.

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