The Scottsdale cryonics facility that a leading sports magazine reported severed the head from the body of the late baseball great Ted Williams should be regulated by the state, officials say.

But “We can’t touch them,” said Rudy Thomas, director of the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.

Mr. Thomas says Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which preserves bodies in liquid nitrogen tanks in hopes they might someday be revived, is regulated by the federal Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act, which guides the operations of organ donation organizations and research labs. Arizona has a similar anatomical gift statute, but the state has no regulatory authority over Alcor, he said.

The gift act allows Alcor to acquire full legal custody over a body.

The Arizona Anatomical Gift Act covers facilities “licensed, accredited or approved under the laws of any state for storage of human bodies and parts” and states that hospitals, organ procurement agencies and accredited medical and dental schools may accept anatomical gifts “for transplantation, therapy, medical or dental science.”

Mr. Thomas told the St. Petersburg Times the Food and Drug Administration has regulatory authority over cryonics facilities, but does not perform regular inspections.

Kathleen Quinn of the agency’s public affairs office told Arizona Capitol Times the agency oversees “medical gases” that are used in cryonics labs, but said it was unclear whether the FDA has overall regulatory authority over Alcor.

If the Sports Illustrated report about Alcor’s treatment of Mr. Williams’s remains is true, said Mr. Thomas, the facility is guilty of mutilation. Arizona law prohibits mutilation of a body. Among several allegations made by Larry Johnson, a former Alcor employee, are that Alcor severed Mr. Williams’s head, drilled holes in it and fractured the skull, the magazine reported.

“That to me is mutilation, if it happened,” Mr. Thomas said.

Mr. Johnson also said Alcor took DNA samples from Mr. Williams, but lost them.

Alcor has denied Mr. Johnson’s statements and has never acknowledged that Mr. Williams’s remains are at its facility.

Alcor sued Mr. Johnson, alleging breach of contract and theft of company property. He has until Sept. 20 to respond to the suit.

Bill Could Be Introduced Next Session

Paula Lemler, Alcor media representative, said she did not know the answers to several questions asked by Arizona Capitol Times about regulations the facility is subject to, nor about whether any investigations of Alcor were taking place. She said retiring Alcor CEO Dr. Jerry Lemler, who is her husband, would respond the newspaper’s questions “when he has time.”

Mr. Thomas said he informed Lynette Evans, Governor Napolitano’s policy adviser for regulatory matters, of his concerns about Alcor, and Rep. Bob Stump, R-Dist. 9, says he will introduce a bill next session to regulate anatomical research facilities and companies that handle the donation of human bodies and body parts.

New York and Florida have enacted laws regulating the cryonics industry, Mr. Thomas said, and California and Michigan have applied existing statutes to oversee the industry.

Michigan last month prohibited the Cryonics Institute of Michigan from performing procedures at its facility until it conforms to regulations intended for mortuaries and cemeteries.

An Alcor newsletter published on the Internet Sept. 1 argued against applying mortuary and cemetery regulations to cryonics companies.

“…We are a research institution receiving anatomical donations under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act…we should not be subject to mortuary regulations that enforce procedures such as embalming,” the newsletter stated. “Cemetery regulations are equally inappropriate…We cannot maintain patients in hermetically sealed containers (as specified by Arizona mortuary law) since venting is necessary to allow liquid nitrogen vapor to escape.”

Mr. Stump, a first-term House member from the West Valley and whose father owned a mortuary in California said, “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.”

Mark Ferrell, who is married to Mr. Williams’s eldest daughter, Bobby-Jo; Buzz Harmon, a former director of the Ted Williams Museum in Citrus, Fla., and at least four people responding to a call for an investigation into the Alcor-Williams matter by a Web site called “Save Ted” have filed complaints against Alcor with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Dianna Jennings, a spokeswoman for the office, said there are no records indicating an investigation has begun. “We’re not the people’s attorney,” she said. Last month, Attorney General Terry Goddard would neither confirm nor deny his office was investigating Alcor.

Who Regulates?

Governor Napolitano declined to comment on Alcor at her Sept. 16 news briefing.

Other governmental agencies also said they do not have regulatory authority over Alcor’s operations, including the Department of Health Services; the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, unless “criminal activities” take place at the facility, said spokesman Bill Fitzgerald; the Maricopa County Public Health Department and the city of Scottsdale. None reported receiving complaints about Alcor.

According to this month’s Alcor newsletter, the company has recently undergone inspections by fire officials and the state Department of Environmental Quality and has requested an inspection by OSHA.

“We expect to be scrutinized after the Sports Illustrated article appeared,” the newsletter said.

DHS issued “transit permits” for moving 10 bodies from Alcor’s previous facility in Riverside, Calif. to Scottsdale in 1994.

“To the best of our knowledge, we have had no… complaints, no investigations,” said Diana Eckles of the DHS division that handles laboratory licensure and certification.

A 1993 memorandum written by former Alcor president Steve Bridge discussed a meeting in Phoenix among Alcor, DHS and attorney general representatives.

“We were expecting the meeting to resolve the last of the paperwork problems necessary to begin the move to Scottsdale,” Mr. Bridge wrote.

The memo, which is posted on the Internet, goes on to describe Mr. Bridge’s perspective of DHS concerns about preservation of bodies of people who die from highly communicable diseases and storage of bodies in liquid nitrogen.

Before Alcor moved from California, the company won a court case in 1990 against the California Department of Health Services, which had refused to issue death certificates and body disposition permits for those who wanted their bodies frozen after death.

The state had refused to issue death certificates, which relatives often needed to settle estates and obtain insurance payments. Additionally, “patients,” as Alcor describes people who donate their bodies to the non-profit foundation, often turn over their life insurance policies to Alcor to cover the costs of freezing and storage (anywhere from $100,000 for a whole body to $30,000 for only a head, according to the Los Angeles Times).

In his written opinion, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aurelo Munoz added that if California wanted to regulate the cryonics industry, it first must set up licensing and regulatory procedures.

What Lawmakers Say

Rep. Wally Straughn, D-Dist. 15, says Arizona needs to look at regulating the cryonics industry. “New technologies will likely offer options for the deceased that we have yet to co
nsider,” he said, adding that options for those who might be revived from a frozen state also need to be considered.

“We really need to start working on guidelines before companies like Alcor proliferate,” Mr. Straughn said.

Rep. Phil Hanson, R-Dist. 9, disagrees.

“I’m not sure that I would give great support to a bill placing regulations on cryonics companies at this time,” he said. “It is such a small facility and those that are considering the process should be made aware of the pros and cons by the company as a good business practice.”

Mr. Thomas has called for the creation of a state level board to regulate Alcor, but Rep. Linda Gray, R-Dist. 10, said, “It is a good idea to bring this company under the regulation of the funeral directors instead of creating another board.”

Mr. Stump said he also wants to bring the regulation of cemeteries under the state Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, rather than the Board of Real Estate.

Mr. Thomas put aside the belief among Alcor supporters that medical scientists someday might be able to revive bodies that have been frozen for years.

“There’s no difference between cryonics and cremation,” he said. “You’re gone forever.” —