We are pleased to announce that Alcor is reducing membership dues for the second consecutive year. Starting January 1, 2015, dues for Alcor cryopreservation members paying the full rate (currently $590) will be reduced by 10% (rounded to $530). Dues for members receiving any discount will not be changed.

We are able to do this thanks to strong finances. We hope and expect that this reduction in costs (especially combined with other measures about to be announced) will make it easier for financially stressed members to stay with us, and to attract new members. The resulting membership growth will result in economies of scale and therefore the probability of even lower membership costs.

Did your receive a postcard announcing: “SA, Suspended Animation: We’re Expanding!” with the date of SA’s Open House? Some people have called Alcor, puzzled. For those who don’t read much that we send out: Suspended Animation is our partner, handing standby, stablization, and transport for all Alcor members living within the USA but outside Arizona. These postcard were mailed by Alcor on behalf of SA. No addresses were given to SA.

69-year old Alcor member A-2680, a neuro member, was declared legally dead on July 28, 2014 and became Alcor’s 126^th patient on July 30, 2014.

On July 28, 2014, Alcor’s emergency answering service notified us that an Alcor member living in the Phoenix area had been pronounced legally dead at approximately 4:30 pm at Arizona Heart hospital. The notification came from a nurse at the hospital. The member had called 911 that afternoon with respiratory distress. He identified himself to the medics when they arrived at his home and he went into cardiac arrest sometime thereafter. He was taken to AZ Heart but they were unsuccessful in resuscitation. The nurses were in the process of calling an organ donation group in Arizona when they noticed his Alcor bracelet and called us instead. While we were discussing the patient’s cause of death with the nurse on the phone, they informed us that the Maricopa Medical Examiner’s office had just decided to take the case instead.

The assigned investigator at the ME’s office was not familiar with Alcor and would not tell us much other than he felt there were enough questions surrounding his death that it warranted an autopsy. He did say that without next-of-kin, medical records or a primary care physician to reference his medical history, he doubted they would waive the autopsy despite our request. We double-checked our files and found minimal information that would help them rule out any health problems.

In talking to the ME’s office, our primary objective was to request that a CT scan be performed of his brain rather than the invasive sectioning that results in massive damage to the brain tissue. We offered to pay and facilitate this process. After reviewing the images, if the scans in conjunction with toxicology results revealed trauma that warranted further examination, a more invasive approach would be more reasonable to investigate possible foul play.

To our pleasant surprise, the ME decided to do an external-only exam. We received A-2680 at around 3pm on July 30 and immediately began cool down.

A-2740, a confidential neuro member, was declared legally dead on April 15, 2014 and the same day became Alcor’s 123rd patient.

A-2740, suffering from multiple medical problems, foremost among which was metastasized cancer, had been hospitalized on the east coast. Alcor suggested to the patient’s son that his mother be moved to Arizona for a shorter transport time. Initially, he declined, resulting in a standby in the area carried out by Suspended Animation on Alcor’s behalf. Only sometime after she had been discharged from the hospital to a senior living center did he change his mind. He then paid for a medical jet which enabled A-2740 to be transported to a Scottsdale hospice on the morning of Tuesday April 15.

A-2740 arrived in Scottsdale at 11:44am. Less than five hours later, A-2740 was pronounced at 4:38pm. The Alcor standby team immediately went into action, seconds after pronouncement, and left the hospital at 5:10pm. Cooling and administration of medications continued in the rescue vehicle. The patient arrived at Alcor at 5:51pm. Perfusion was completed at 10:06pm and the patient began cool down to long-term care temperature.