Response to Larry Johnson Media Allegations

June 3, 2010: Larry Johnson found in Contempt of Court; Warrant Issued for His Arrest

On May 28, 2010, the Superior Court of the State of Arizona found former Alcor paramedic Larry Johnson in contempt of court and issued a warrant for his arrest. The associated judgment also ordered Johnson to pay Alcor $34,107.57 in addition to amounts owing from a July 2009 judgment against him and his wife. These new sanctions were the result of Johnson violating the July 2009 Arizona Judgment to stop disparaging Alcor, stop distribution of private patient records taken from Alcor, return all materials pertaining to Alcor, and otherwise stop communicating with third parties about Alcor. The July 2009 judgment arose out of various violations of a 2004 settlement agreement with Alcor in which Johnson agreed to make no further public statements about Alcor after being sued for distributing and misrepresenting confidential materials taken from Alcor in 2003. His defamatory and fictionalized book Frozen was a violation of the prior settlement agreement and a violation of the July 2009 judgment entered against Mr. Johnson and his wife. After failing to appear in the Superior Court of Arizona to answer for his transgressions, the Superior Court issued a judgment for contempt, an award of sanctions in favor of Alcor and a bench warrant for the arrest of Mr. Johnson in whatever state he can be found.

Alcor retained counsel in Las Vegas, Nevada to enforce the Arizona judgment against Mr. Johnson, and a hearing is currently scheduled for June 22, 2010 to ask that the Nevada court remand Mr. Johnson into custody and have him extradited to Arizona.

Mr. Johnson, his co-author, Scott Baldyga, and the publisher of Frozen, Vanguard Press remain defendants in a lawsuit for defamation, aiding and abetting a violation of agreements, court orders and judgments, as well as other causes of action in New York. Alcor regrets having to pursue Mr. Johnson for his violations of agreements, judgments and court orders. However, Alcor has been forced to do so by the inappropriate conduct of Mr. Johnson, Mr. Baldyga and Vanguard Press. Despite receiving a copy of the July 2009 Arizona judgment, Vanguard Press decided unilaterally to lift the "strict sale date" of the book and advanced shipment of the book prior to a hearing on Alcor's motion for temporary injunction. This forced Alcor to pursue other remedies against the defendants, including monetary damages.

Supplementary Documents Regarding Larry Johnson Allegations

• May 2010 Arizona Contempt Judgment against Larry Johnson
• March 2010 New York Court Order against Larry Johnson
• January 2010 Amended Complaint filed in the Supreme Court of New York
  
• July 2009 Arizona Court Order against Larry Johnson
• Rebuttal of similar 2003 allegations
• Forensic analysis of Larry Johnson's PC
• Interview with Larry Johnson
• Attempt to sell photographs online

March 17, 2010: New York Lawsuit Against Larry Johnson Expands to Include Defamation; New York Court Grants Request to Fully Domesticate Arizona Judgment Against Larry Johnson

The New York Supreme Court has granted a motion by Alcor to amend its lawsuit against Defendants, Larry Johnson, co-author, Scott Baldyga, and publisher Vanguard Press. The lawsuit now includes dozens of defamation claims, including numerous claims related to false allegations of mistreatment of Ted Williams and other claims for defamation per se. There is an even larger volume of false and misleading statements in the book "Frozen" than encompassed by these claims, but Alcor believes that these claims are sufficient for proving in court that the book by Johnson and Baldyga was written and published maliciously with false information intended to harm Alcor. The lawsuit additionally includes causes of action for Breach of Agreements and Judgment, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion (theft of company property), and Aiding and Abetting Breach of Court-Entered Judgments against Johnson.

The New York Supreme Court also approved a motion to domesticate in New York the Arizona judgment against Larry Johnson that has been in place since July 7, 2009. This domesticated judgment requires Johnson to return all materials he took from Alcor, including materials distributed to third parties, and prohibits him from making any statements about Alcor. Since this Judgment is now enforceable in New York, it will support the next request for the New York publisher to cease and desist from continued publication of the subject book and to return any Alcor materials Johnson provided to his publisher.

It should provide some reassurance to Alcor members and their families to know that courts are supporting return of records to Alcor, and that any disclosures of Alcor records by Johnson were completely inappropriate. Neither Johnson, Baldyga or Vanguard even attempted to argue "free speech" in opposition of the Motion to Domesticate the Arizona judgment.

Alcor continues to contend that Larry Johnson's book and media appearances in October 2009 and thereafter were knowing violations of the Arizona judgment. It was admitted in court documents that Mr. Johnson knew as early as September 17, 2009, about the Arizona injunction. Notwithstanding entry of the Arizona judgment and the New York order, Johnson continues to violate both orders requiring the return of materials to Alcor.

In January, 2010, Larry Johnson and his wife failed to appear in Arizona for mandatory depositions, and they failed to appear at a court-ordered hearing in which he was required to show cause for his past and ongoing violation of the July 2009 Arizona judgment. Alcor has since filed a motion for a summary order of criminal and civil contempt against Johnson. The court ordered that Johnson and his wife explain and prove in writing their reasons for non-appearance. Johnson has once again refused to comply with court orders, and he has failed to provide any written basis for his non-appearance at depositions. In fact, counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in Arizona filed a motion to withdraw as counsel due to "unresolved issues between the clients and counsel." Alcor awaits entry of a summary order of criminal and civil contempt against Johnson and intends to seek extradition of Johnson from Nevada to Arizona to answer for his conduct. It has always been Alcor's contention that Larry Johnson's activities were not only in violation of court orders and patient privacy, but also based on lies. The addition of defamation claims to the lawsuit in New York now provides Alcor with an opportunity to prove this in a court of law.

October 7, 2009: Alcor Response to ABC Nightline

Last night, Larry Johnson appeared on ABC's Nightline to promote the sale of his book, Frozen: My Journey into Cryonics, Deception and Death. Mr. Johnson continues to violate legal agreements with Alcor and an Arizona Court's judgment prohibiting him from engaging in such activities. It is inexcusable and indefensible that Mr. Johnson would invade the privacy of private individuals and continue his false allegations against Alcor and its members. Mr. Johnson has had numerous opportunities to defend his actions in a court of law — both in Arizona and New York. He has failed to appear in Court in both states and has taken extreme steps to avoid service of process, and yet has no problem appearing on national television to slander innocent people and attempt to defame a 40 year old nonprofit organization that has gained respect among many in the scientific and medical communities. Johnson's blatant disrespect for the law is yet another example of his disregard for the interests and rights of any other than his own.

Nightline made some efforts to investigate Mr. Johnson's many fallacious claims. Mr. Johnson was caught in his own web of deceit when one of his claimed errors in the Ted Williams case was exposed as false. He was also forced to admit that he tried to profit from the death of baseball great, Ted Williams by charging visitors to his website $20 to view alleged photos of Mr. Williams' cryopreserved head. Such photos, some of which are part of internal case documentation files, were removed from Alcor without authorization by Mr. Johnson. Since August of 2004, Mr. Johnson has refused to abide by a settlement agreement he signed, a formal settlement agreement ordered by the mediator and a Court order to return all audiotapes, photos and the many other illegally obtained documents he removed from Alcor's patient files. Sadly, this is just one of the many instances of Mr. Johnson's shameless profiteering at the expense of the very people he was hired to protect.

While it is impossible to address all the false assertions in Mr. Johnson's book in a brief statement, Alcor would like to set the record straight on some of the specifics addressed in the Nightline segment.

In his book and during the Nightline segment, Mr. Johnson claimed he witnessed Alcor staff striking Ted William's head with a wrench. Mr. Johnson, who was an executive with authority over the procedure in question, also claimed he said nothing about the purported incident when it allegedly occurred nor did he bring it to the attention of any other staff or board member. In fact, multiple individuals verified as documented witnesses to patient transfer procedures state without hesitation that Mr. Johnson's claims are pure fabrication. Alcor's internal investigation did not reveal any reports or recollections of any Alcor patient ever being struck by a wrench or any other object, accidentally or otherwise. Yet this fictional and unsubstantiated report continues to echo, as if it is fact, over and over again in the media.

Johnson's statements about tissue debris, tuna, and cats are fictionalized accounts crafted for maximum tabloid shock value, as is nearly the entirety of his book. Alcor denies exposing patients to any devices or equipment that are not appropriate for their function, clean, and sterile as required. Alcor condemns the gross insensitivity of news media in presenting Johnson's stories as newsworthy, desecrating the memory of Ted Williams to the great upset of his youngest daughter, who was "horrified and shocked" in a New York courtroom on Monday when learning sales of Johnson's book would go forward. This was particularly heinous since the publisher apparently knowingly accelerated release of the book in order to preclude the Temporary Restraining Order requested by Alcor and the Williams family. The situation sadly demonstrates how easy it is for one malicious individual to taint the memory of a great man, emotionally crush a family, and damage decades of work by others. That this is presented as wrong-doing on Alcor's part is incomprehensible.

Johnson also alleged that Ted Williams' head was stored in an unsafe malfunctioning freezer. Patient confidentiality agreements limit Alcor's ability to discuss treatment of specific patients; however, we can confirm that in some instances, and for specific reasons, Alcor neuropatients have been stored for periods as long as one year in a type of low temperature freezer called a Cryostar at temperatures near -130°C. This is done for purposes of relaxing thermal stress prior to final descent to -196°C, the temperature of liquid nitrogen, to reduce the incidence of thermal stress fractures. This is very expensive, so it has only been done in cases where patients privately requested and paid for it, or on recommendation of scientific advisors for certain cases.

Cryostar storage was not done at any risk to patients. Patients were protected from temperature fluctuations by thermal buffering provided by their containers and surrounding foam insulation. In addition, they were surrounded by dry ice. Furthermore, the entire Cryostar freezer was connected to battery-powered liquid nitrogen backup so that even total mechanical failure or power failure could not result in warming. Finally, frequent scheduled and documented human monitoring of Alcor storage facilities would result in rapid detection of any problems. Any statements made by individuals that the Cryostar was unsafe for interim storage were either misinformed, or assumed a freezer not equipped with thermal buffering or backup systems.

As to references to "cracking" in his book and media reports, as former Director of Clinical Services, Johnson knows full well that fracturing is expected in every cryopreservation and is an unavoidable result of cooling large volumes of tissue toward liquid nitrogen temperature. There is an entire essay on this subject and the role of -130°C storage as it pertains to fracturing, on the Alcor website. Mr. Johnson's representations of fracturing (as revealed by Alcor's careful monitoring and documentation of fracturing) as being the result of mishandling is deliberately misleading and crafted for shock value. This whole line of allegation is recycled from Mr. Johnson's allegations in 2003 and has been previously dismissed.

The sensationalized reference to the use of a "hammer and chisel" in a cryopreservation demonstrates either Mr. Johnson's ignorance or an effort to hoodwink the public. In a surgical context, those instruments are called a "mallet and osteotome" commonly used by orthopedists for surgical procedures involving bone. In testimony before a hearing of the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004, Alcor in fact testified that these instruments are utilized in cryonics surgical procedures. Johnson is again recycling his tabloid-style 2003 allegations trying to manufacture scandal where there is none.

Johnson also offered audio tapes claimed to be discussions of the hastening of the death of an AIDS patient cryopreserved by Alcor in 1992, an allegation refuted by the patient's nurse on Nightline. These alleged recordings cannot be independently verified. To the extent the conversations were recorded illegally, taken out of context or edited by Mr. Johnson to suit his personal gain, we need to respect the rights of those individuals to take legal action against Mr. Johnson.

Alcor's operations are overseen by its Board of Directors, which meets on a monthly basis to review reports of Alcor's staff and management and to address other issues of significance to the organization. Alcor's management and its Board of Directors take seriously all reports or allegations of individual or institutional misconduct or other failings in the high operational standards to which Alcor holds itself. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Johnson's allegations were not raised to the Board or management at the time when he was an employee, and notwithstanding the six-year delay of some of these allegations and the for-profit format in which he has brought them, and notwithstanding the many allegations already determined to be factually incorrect, Alcor will continue to investigate each and every allegation in Mr. Johnson's book in order to determine whether any internal corrections are warranted. The information collected will be valuable for ongoing and yet-to-be filed lawsuits against Johnson for violations of confidentiality, defamation, and other causes of action related to his prior employment at Alcor.

It is important to note that Mr. Johnson came to Alcor with supposed medical experience, and he was paid and entrusted to improve procedures and ensure the safety and privacy of Alcor members. In his short tenure, Mr. Johnson misappropriated Alcor property for his own financial gain; he invaded the privacy of private individuals by secretly recording their conversations; he absconded with medical records and technical photographs that were taken for documentation purposes and has presented these out of the context in which they were intended in order to make Alcor and its well-founded and documented procedures seem ghoulish in the eyes of the unsuspecting public. Mr. Johnson's actions violated the trust of Alcor, breached the confidence of its members and damaged the reputation of the science of cryonics.

As Nightline asked in the lead-in to the segment, "is this self-styled whistleblower just out to make money?" The answer is a resounding yes.

It is unexplainable and indefensible that Mr. Johnson would voice his allegations in a book for profit and continue these unauthorized disclosures in the press while thumbing his nose at the legal system. Alcor is a non-profit organization, a pioneer in the field of cryonics and categorically denies the false allegations contained in Mr. Johnson's book. We are prepared to take any and all action available within the legal system to protect the rights and privacy of our members. Media exposure of Johnson's false allegations have created a difficult time for the members of Alcor, the families of our patients, and the private individuals who are attacked personally in Mr. Johnson's book, but we have faith in the legal system and believe that, in time, Mr. Johnson will be brought to justice and Alcor will be fully vindicated.

October 5, 2009: Alcor Life Extension Foundation Granted Temporary Restraining Order Against Larry Johnson

Earlier today, Judge James Yates of the Supreme Court of the State of New York entered a Temporary Restraining Order against Larry Johnson, forbidding disclosure of any confidential information which is not already contained in his inflammatory and misguided book entitled, Frozen: My Journey into the World of Cryonics. The book was originally scheduled for release on October 6, 2009, but Vanguard Press, the publisher of the book, was allowing sales of the book in advance of today's hearing. It was also admitted at the hearing that Vanguard Press shipped copies of the book despite knowing there was a July 7, 2009 judgment entered in Maricopa County, Arizona against Mr. Johnson, forbidding disclosure of any confidential or illegally obtained information about Alcor, its members or its operations.

Upon receiving the Court's Order, Alcor legal counsel, Clifford A. Wolff stated, "Alcor is pleased that the Court prevented Larry Johnson from any further disclosures of confidential information and that Judge Yates gave validity to the judgment entered against Mr. Johnson in Maricopa County, Arizona. Alcor will continue its legal efforts for sanctions and damages against the defendants in order to protect the privacy rights of its members and employees." 

According to Dr. Ralph Merkle, speaking on behalf of Alcor's Board of Directors, "We are pleased that the Court Order will prevent Mr. Johnson from any further violations of the previously obtained Judgment. The book is based upon illegally obtained and misleading information that also violates the privacy rights of our members and employees." Merkle added, "We are disappointed that a book publisher would knowingly sell for profit confidential information of Alcor and its members even after receiving notice of a previously entered judgment forbidding disclosure."

The book's primary author, Larry Johnson, was employed at Alcor for approximately seven months during 2003. He served as Director of Clinical Services and briefly as Chief Operating Officer. Johnson admits that, during his employment, he stole confidential documents and medical photographs from Alcor and "secretly recorded" private conversations with Alcor staff members.

Obviously, Johnson intentionally invaded the privacy of individuals and abused his position of trust to gather materials for the sale of an exploitive book.

According to Merkle, an internationally respected scientist who has served on the nonprofit organization's Board for over a decade, "Larry Johnson's covert misconduct demonstrates his disrespect for Alcor, its patients, its 900 members, and the law. As an employee of Alcor, his duty was to protect the interests of our members and the public. Unfortunately, his actions seem motivated by nothing more than desire for his own personal gain."

Merkle said that Johnson's main area of responsibility during his tenure at Alcor in 2003 was the supervision of the cryopreservation of Alcor members. According to Merkle, "Johnson expressed none of his lurid and sensationalistic concerns during his employment — when preventing and correcting any such alleged mistakes would have been a major part of his duties. Only afterwards, when he could profit from exaggerations and misrepresentations, did he start to complain about how Alcor performed cryopreservations."

Some of Johnson's most derogatory attacks of Alcor involve alleged mistakes during the cryopreservation of baseball great Ted Williams. Merkle said "It is absurd for Johnson to make these allegations because he had yet to be hired by Alcor when Williams was cryopreserved. Ted Williams was cryopreserved with the care and scientific rigor that Alcor devotes to all its patients. Mr. Johnson's claims are not only harmful to Alcor and its members, but also violate the privacy rights of the Williams family. It is a travesty that Mr. Johnson would knowingly and blatantly violate the Williams family's privacy in utter disregard of both the law and professional norms."

Alcor spokesperson, Cheryl Walsh, added that "publication of a book does not ensure its truthfulness as has been demonstrated in the past in such cases as James Frey's A Million Little Pieces and Herman Rosenblat's An Angel at the Fence. Even Oprah Winfrey, with her expansive staff, was deceived by these authors. Alcor's Board will not and can not stand by and allow Mr. Johnson to tarnish nearly 40 years of diligence and commitment by members, volunteers, scientists and professional staff. Alcor must set the record straight and ensure that Mr. Johnson is not permitted to cause havoc and confusion with his misleading claims."

October 2, 2009: Alcor Denies Media Allegations

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation denies the outrageous allegations against it that have appeared in the media this week. Alcor especially denies mistreating the remains of baseball great Ted Williams. Larry Johnson, the ex Alcor staff member who made these allegations, was not employed at Alcor when Williams was cryopreserved. Johnson's previous attempts to profit from sensational and unfounded allegations against Alcor recently resulted in a Court Order prohibiting him from making further statements about Alcor. "Alcor is actively pursuing litigation regarding these allegations," says Alcor Executive Director, Jennifer Chapman.