Jack Kevorkian

Jack Kevorkian, M.D. (pronounced /kɛˈvɔrkiːɛn/^[1]) (born May 20, some sources say May 26^[2], 1928) is a controversial American pathologist. He is most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime."

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Kevorkian was born in Pontiac, Michigan to Armenian-American parents. Kevorkian graduated from Pontiac Central High School with honors in 1945, at the age of 17. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan Medical School, from which he graduated in 1952.

In the 1980s, Kevorkian wrote a series of articles for the German journal Medicine and Law that laid out his thinking on the ethics of euthanasia.

Kevorkian started advertising in Detroit newspapers in 1987 as a physician consultant for "death counseling." In 1991 the State of Michigan revoked Jack Kevorkian's medical license and made it clear that given his actions, he was no longer permitted to practice medicine or to work with patients. Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of nearly one hundred allegedly terminally ill people, according to his lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. In each of the above mentioned cases, the individuals themselves allegedly took the final action which resulted in their own deaths. Kevorkian allegedly assisted only by attaching the individual to a device that he had made. The individual then pushed a button which released the drugs or chemicals that would end his or her own life. Two deaths were assisted by means of a device which delivered the euthanizing drugs mechanically through an IV. Kevorkian called it a "Thanatron" (death machine). Other people were assisted by a device which employed a gas mask fed by a canister of carbon monoxide which was called "Mercitron" (mercy machine). This became necessary because Kevorkian's medical license had been revoked after the first two deaths, and he could no longer have legal access to the substances required for the "Thanatron".

On the November 23, 1998 broadcast of 60 Minutes, Kevorkian allowed the airing of a videotape he had made on September 17, 1998, which depicted the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, an adult male with full decisional capacity who was in the final stages of ALS. After Youk provided his fully-informed consent on September 17, 1998, Kevorkian administered a lethal injection. This was novel compared to Kevorkian's other clients, as Kevorkian himself administered the injection, as opposed to having Youk complete the process. During the videotape, Kevorkian dared the authorities to try to convict or stop him from carrying out assisted suicides. This incited the district attorney to bring murder charges against him, claiming that Kevorkian single-handedly caused the death.

Imprisoned in 1999, he served eight years out of his 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder in the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk, 52, of Oakland County, Michigan. Kevorkian was released from prison on June 1, 2007, on parole due to his failing health.^[3]

During much of this period, Kevorkian was represented by attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

Conviction and imprisonment

Kevorkian was tried numerous times over the years for assisting in suicides. Many of these trials took place in Oakland County, Michigan. In every instance prior to the Thomas Youk case, Kevorkian was even beginning to gain some public support for his cause, as is evidenced by the defeat of Oakland County prosecutor Richard Thompson to David Gorcyca in the Republican primary. The result of the political election was attributed, in part, to the declining public support from the prosecution of Kevorkian and its associated legal expenses.

Kevorkian also demonstrated a flair for dramatic publicity stunts at this time, showing up to one trial in a powdered wig and protesting an incarceration pursuant to another trial by staging a hunger strike. He also wore a placard challenging the Oakland County prosecutor to bring him to trial for the death of Youk.

On March 26, 1999, Kevorkian was charged with second-degree homicide and also for the delivery of a controlled substance (administering a lethal injection to Thomas Youk). Kevorkian's license to practice medicine had been revoked eight years previously; thus he was not legally allowed to possess the controlled substance. Unlike the prior trials involving an area of law in flux (assisted suicide), the law of homicide is relatively fixed and routine. Kevorkian, however, discharged his attorneys and proceeded through the trial pro se (representing himself). The judge ordered a criminal defense attorney to remain available at trial for information and advice. Inexperienced in law and persisting in his efforts to appear pro se, Kevorkian encountered great difficulty in presenting his evidence and arguments.

The Michigan jury found Kevorkian guilty of second-degree homicide. It was proven that he had directly killed a person because Thomas Youk was not physically able to kill himself. The judge sentenced him to serve a 10-25 year prison sentence and told Kevorkian: "You were on bond to another judge when you committed this offense, you were not licensed to practice medicine when you committed this offense and you hadn't been licensed for eight years. And you had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did and dare the legal system to stop you. Well, sir, consider yourself stopped." - referring to the video where he mentioned to the authorities to try to stop him. He was sent to prison in Coldwater, Michigan.

In the course of the various proceedings, Kevorkian made statements under oath and to the press that he considered it his duty to assist persons in their death. He also indicated under oath that because he thought laws to the contrary were archaic and unjust, he would persist in civil disobedience, even under threat of criminal punishment. Future intent to commit crimes is an element parole boards may consider in deciding whether to grant a convicted person relief. Since his conviction (and subsequent losses on appeal), Kevorkian has been denied parole repeatedly.

In an MSNBC interview aired on September 29, 2005, Kevorkian said that if he were granted parole, he would not resume directly helping people die and would restrict himself to campaigning to have the law changed. On December 22, 2005, Kevorkian was denied parole by a board on the count of 7-2 recommending not to give parole.

Kevorkian is terminally ill with Hepatitis C, which he contracted while doing research on blood transfusions in Vietnam^[4] and was expected to die within a year in May 2006. Kevorkian had applied for a pardon, parole, or commutation by the parole board and Governor Jennifer Granholm due to his failing health; he was paroled on June 1, 2007.^[5]

"Kevorkian will be on parole for two years, and one of the conditions he must meet is that he cannot help anyone else die. He is also prohibited from providing care for anyone who is older than 62 or is disabled. He could go back to prison if he violates his parole." ^[6] He says he will abstain from assisting any more terminal patients with death, and his role in the matter will strictly be to persuade states to change their laws on the matter.

On June 4, 2007, Kevorkian appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to discuss his time in prison and his future plans.^[7] At the time of Kevorkian's release, the only state in the United States that had legalized doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill people was Oregon.

References

Further reading

• Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphry. ISBN 0-385-33653-5.
• Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide (For and Against) by Gerald Dworkin, R. G. Frey (Series Editor), Sissela Bok, 1998: ISBN 0-521-58789-1.
• Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Anatomy of a Constitutional Law Issue by Arthur Gordon Svenson and Susan M. Behuniak. ISBN 0-7425-1725-X.
• Assisted Suicide and the Right to Die: The Interface of Social Science, Public Policy, and Medical Ethics by Barry Rosenfeld PhD, 2004 ISBN 1-59147-102-8.
• Forced Exit : The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder by Wesley J. Smith, 1997. ISBN 0-8129-2790-7.
• "A View to a Kill" by Wesley J. Smith, National Review Online, December 14, 2005, retrieved December 14, 2005.
• Appointment With Dr. Death by Michael Betzold