Published: 02.27.2004
By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX - Lawmakers took steps toward regulating a cryonics center, which -
depending on what one believes about the practice - is the temporary or final
resting place of baseball great Ted Williams.
The move came after Alcor Life Extension Facility agreed to oversight of its
Scottsdale operation, which stores the bodies or severed heads of about 60 people
who hoped science will eventually be able to reanimate them.
One potential sticking point remains: whether the State Board of Funeral Directors
and Embalmers, which would regulate the facility, should be revamped to include
someone with expertise in cryonics.
Alcor CEO Joseph Waynick told the House Health Committee that funeral homes
deal with final disposition of bodies. But he said his clients are not dead
- at least not completely.
"What we have recognized . . . is that death is a process, it is not an
event," he said.
"When someone stops breathing and their heart stops beating, they are clinically
declared dead," Waynick said. "But the cellular structure of that
individual is still very much viable."
Rep. Bob Stump, R-Peoria, said the industry needs oversight to ensure customers
get what they have been promised.
HB 2367, approved unanimously Thursday by the Health Committee, would regulate
any entity that stores dead human bodies or remains for more than five years.
The funeral board would be empowered to impose rules on all phases of operation,
ranging from examining complaints about how bodies are handled to requirements
for financial reserves if a company goes out of business.
Some of the public scrutiny has come from descriptions of what happens to bodies
during the preservation process.
Last year, as Williams' children were disputing whether their Hall of Fame dad
wanted to be frozen or cremated, Sports Illustrated reported about possible
mistreatment of the slugger's head at Alcor.
The cryonics process involves medical hammers, chisels and drills, said Alcor
lobbyist Barry Aarons. And Alcor admits cracks can develop in the skull.
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