Lobbyist Questions Need For State Regulation Of Cryonics
By Phil Riske
http://www.azcapitol...2&ArticleID=548
Negotiations are continuing over draft legislation to regulate companies that preserve bodies in hope they someday can be revived, state officials say.
The officials and representatives of the cryonics industry have been discussing a proposed bill to bring Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale under state oversight.
The controversy over Alcor’s alleged mistreatment of the remains of baseball great Ted Williams led Rudy Thomas, director of the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, and Rep. Bob Stump, R-Dist. 9, to consider state regulation of the company.
Sports Illustrated reported last year that Mr. Williams’ head was severed from his body and cracked when holes were drilled in it. The article was based on statements by a former Alcor employee, who was fired.
If the magazine report were true, Mr. Thomas says, the facility violated state law prohibiting mutilation of a body.
“He is wrong,” says Barry Aarons, recently hired by Alcor as a lobbyist and spokesman. “There is no problem with what Alcor did. No protocols were violated.”
Mr. Aarons said negative publicity about Alcor is the result of a Williams family feud over whether the late baseball legend indicated he wanted his body taken to the facility, which preserves bodies in liquid nitrogen.
Alcor is not necessarily opposed to state regulation, Mr. Aarons said, but asked, “What is the problem that cries out for regulation?” He said he would prefer the state become knowledgeable about cryonics before proposing legislation to regulate it.
Mortuary Procedures Are Different From Saving Tissue, Lobbyist Says
“You are dealing with a completely different set of protocols, chemicals and procedures” compared to mortuary procedures, Mr. Aarons said. “We’re concerned about whoever does that [regulates] has expertise, knowledge, funding and ability to understand cryo-preservation, rather than just embalming.”
And, he added, new regulations would have to consider other circumstances where bodies or body parts and tissue are not buried, such as with brain banks, medical schools, and anthropology institutes. “What about teeth and hair?” Mr. Aarons asked.
“We’re getting into a whole new area,” he said. “…Maintaining tissue for survival is 180 degrees from what the funeral board does.”
Alcor is regulated by the federal and state Anatomical Gifts Act, which provide guidelines for organ donation organizations and research labs. The acts permit Alcor to acquire full legal custody over a human body.
Mr. Aarons said Alcor is not trying to avoid regulation, but added that the funeral board and the Department of Health Services are not equipped to handle cryonics issues. Perhaps it is a matter for the Arizona Medical Board, he said.
After the Ted Williams controversy was reported, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office received requests that it investigate Alcor. The agency has neither confirmed nor denied an investigation.
New York and Florida have enacted laws regulating cryonics, and Michigan last year placed a cryonics institute under the authority of a state agency that regulates mortuaries and cemeteries.
Mr. Stump, whose father owned a mortuary, said in an Arizona Capitol Times interview last year, “We need to ensure that families have adequate options if their loved ones’ remains are mishandled by anyone. And we need to ensure that we have proper mechanisms in place for families to file complaints.”
The deadline for filing House bills is Feb. 9—
