Young scholars unite to discuss if the deceased have rights

The idea of cryonics, the technology of preserving a person in a state of deep cooling after death, first appeared in the middle of the last century. It happened when the American academic Robert Ettinger published the book "The Prospect of Immortality". In this work, he suggested the possibility of freezing a person until there are drugs to bring them back to life and cure their diseases. The first test subject was Ettinger’s mother, whose body still remains in cryopreservation.

This work gave impetus to the creation of the cryonics movement, first in the USA, and then in other countries. Today, scientists from different countries use similar technologies for cryonics. The blood in the human body is replaced with a non-freezing composition and cooled to −196 °C. In some cases, a part of the body is frozen, for example, the head or only the brain. They believe that this is enough to preserve neural connections, and therefore memory, and bring a person back to life with preserved consciousness.

In Russia, only one company deals with cryonics. Specialists from the company offer to freeze dead people or animals.

As of the spring of 2022, the number of patients cryopreserved by the Russian company is 84, and the number of cryopreserved animals is 47. Another 500 people have signed a contract to be frozen after death.

In different countries, the cost of the procedure ranges from 12,000 to 200,000 dollars. At the same time, cryonics is still considered an experimental activity. Doctors do not give any guarantees of awakening, because even today there is no technology that makes it possible to return a person to life after being frozen.

The technology is allowed in Russia, the USA and China. In Russia, the Federal Law "On Burial and Funeral Business" enshrines the right of a person to independently determine the conditions of their preservation after death. The list of methods is not limited, which means it can include cryonics. Additionally, there is no ban in Russia on preserving the brain or other body parts for scientific purposes. The company that sells freezing services is recognised as a research organisation and can engage in scientific research and experiments, including the field of cryonics.

There is no current legislation on cryonics in Russia. Since the technology is located at the junction of different areas, it is regulated by two Russian laws: the law "On Fundamental Healthcare Principles in the Russian Federation" and the law "On Burial and Funeral Business".

It is important that the client should notarise their wish or record a video in presence of witnesses. The customer must confirm that they are aware that there are no guarantees for awakening. It is important that only a deceased person can be cryopreserved, so it is important to legally determine the exact moment of death. According to domestic legislation, the moment of death of a person is considered the moment of death of their brain or biological death. Also, since cryonics is not compatible with autopsy of the body, the patient or their relatives should write a refusal of autopsy. If all these conditions are met, the patient can sign a contract. The term of such a contract is 100 years, but after the expiration of this time, the contract will be extended until technologies are invented that will make it possible to revive a person.

Since scientists admit the possibility of awakening a person and continuing life, the issue of personal and property rights of the client is acute. Lawyers believe that in case of positive development of cryonics, it will be necessary to develop special legislation that could not only determine the legal status of cryopreserved patients, but also resolve issues of inheritance and social guarantees.

Students, lecturers and professors from St Petersburg University discuss this topic and other legal issues related to medicine and healthcare at meetings of the University student scientific club dedicated to biomedical law.