However, to assume that my life is mine and mine alone is extremely selfish irregardless to what value I place on my own life and anyone who has extended contact with us shares in our life and I know several people who would be very upset if I chose simply to die.

It seems to me there are two groups of those who defend Kevorkian:

1. Those who believe that people should not have to endure intolerable agony simply to support some abstract concept of life’s sacredness.

2. Those who believe that people should be free to choose to end their life whenever, and however they choose, and free to enlist others in assisting in whatever capacity they choose.

I think the first is far more defensibly than the second. Medicine has a long history of ignoring pain, minimizing its severity, and causing it for the sake of small or hypothetical benefit. This is changing. Few physicians or medical ethicists will dispute that there are points at which it is justified to relieve pain even if that relief hastens death.

We do this all the time–I guarantee that the general current is not doctors pushing for pointless treatments while patients just beg to be done with it: quite the opposite. I routinely, after explaining the principle of double effect to families, give medication to ease pain that happens to also stop breathing. Every good doctor who deals with dying patients does.

However. When you are critically ill it will sometimes feel as if you’re going to die. At least once or twice, you will probably want to. Most people who are critically ill survive. And they do so, regrettably, after a lot of pain because we really just don’t have methods to heal people from most maladies without some pain involved. It would be a grave, grave error to give people carte blanche to end their lives with the assistance of one or two physicians. Patients usually have a poor sense of what their prognosis is, and pain clouds that further. *Physicians* usually have a poor sense of a patient’s prognosis, and patients’ pain clouds *their* judgment.

Some illnesses are obviously terminal. Everyone has at least one terminal illness over the course of their life. It is rare to know which one it will be, even when you have it. To shorten life for the sake of easing pain is sometimes–not always–defensible. To end life on someone’s behalf is a very different principle, and one Kevorkian was far too cavalier in implementing.

Like many here, I have very strong opinions on the topic too.

I hope it could be said, regardless of whether one supports Kevorkian’s position or not, that it has forced people to examine why they hold the beliefs they have on the subject.

We have animals put down so they don’t suffer, because we care for them, but when it comes to our own grandparents we humans are as likely to have them kept artificially alive and in pain..

We are a strange animal.

@ Modano: What does SG have to do with Jack Kevorkian (other than, I assume, several of them allegedly having a crush on him)? Last I heard they were jumping the shark whilst being towed behind a much faster shark with laser beams attached to its skull on an episode of CSI:New York. Ah, yes, Missy’s ‘made for TV’ version of ‘what it means to be an SG’. LOL. Thanks for that. Did they ever figure out how those girls got out of Sean’s basement?

Total nonsense. Kevorkian was a vicious man who committed murder. He was a sick and twisted man with a sick and twisted morality who played on people at their most vulnerable for publicity, and then killed them.

Good riddance.

Individuals do not get to decide what is or isn’t permissible.

My body and my life belong to me and no one else. Not Kevorkian. Not the State. Not you. My body, my choice.

I respect your opinion to the contrary, but I disagree that my life does not belong to me, irrespective of what the law says. And – although I would balk at helping someone commit suicide, whether or not I was medically qualified and legally empowered to, and believe I would go through a very great deal of suffering and indignity before ever contemplating it for myself – I would do nothing to claim ownership over someone else.

That Dr. Kevorkian was convicted of murder is a fact. The google, I’m sure you have heard of it? The rest of my comment was opinion, which does not need a cite since it is my opinion.

If you’ve seen people break down from diseases such as ALS and the pain inherent in that, or if you’ve worked in care for the elderly you would see the humanity in allowing people to die when they so choose. Very many elderly people who have come to terms with the fact that they don’t have too long left have the one wish that they get to go without suffering. Talk to medical professionals and ask them how THEY want to die. What THEIR choice would be if they got ALS or another form of terminal MND. Those that I know have a short and simple answer which has been fully thought through.

I hope that I will be able to choose not to die in excruciating pain if I get a disease like that from which there is no recovery, and only increasing levels of pain and fear.

We allow our pets the dignity of death without them having to scream, puke and shit themselves while they die. We aren’t we allowed the same?

Kevorkian fought the system, and showed the horrible inconsistencies between the law and compassion. He tried to circumvent the law by making a machine which allowed the person to end their own lives in peace, but made the serious legal mistake of providing too much assistance to people who had lost the ability to operate the machine. The relatives took serious issue with this as they did not respect the wishes of the deceased, and painted Kevorkian as a manipulative killer. When someone is in the last stages of ALS then no manipulation is needed.

In reviewing the lives and deaths of 47 people whose suicides have been publicly linked to Kevorkian since June 1990, Free Press reporters interviewed hundreds of people and examined thousands of pages of documents, including medical records, autopsy reports, marriage and divorce records, police files, personal notes and letters.

The investigation also debunks perceptions that Kevorkian only helps people who are terminally ill — likely to die within six months — or are in agonizing pain.

In fact, at least 60 percent of Kevorkian’s suicide patients were not terminal. At least 17 could have lived indefinitely and, in 13 cases, the people had no complaints of pain.

Many friends and relatives of the people who committed suicide with Kevorkian weren’t even aware he had a written set of standards. But they believe he is willing to suspend almost any rule to accommodate people who really want to die.

Examining the Kevorkian suicides, the Free Press found that in clear violation of his own written standards:

Kevorkian has failed to consult psychiatrists, even when dealing with depressed people.

In a 1992 article setting out his rules for physician- assisted suicides, Kevorkian wrote it is always mandatory to bring in a psychiatrist because a person’s “mental state is . . . of paramount importance.” But the Free Press found at least 19 cases in which Kevorkian did not contact psychiatrists.

In at least five of those cases, the people who died had histories of depression.

Kevorkian has failed to observe minimum waiting periods before helping people to die.

He has stated that after signing a formal request, a person must always wait at least 24 hours before getting help to commit suicide. But the Free Press found at least 17 instances in which Kevorkian’s first meeting with the person was also his last. In at least five of these, less than three hours passed from the signing of the request to the moment of death. In one case, the waiting period was one hour.

Kevorkian has failed to consult with pain specialists and other medical experts, even when the need was clearly indicated.

Kevorkian has endorsed a written rule requiring that a pain expert be consulted in any case where “pain is a major factor” in a suicidal patient’s complaints. But out of 33 cases in which people came to Kevorkian complaining of chronic pain, he failed to consult a pain specialist in at least 17.

Kevorkian has failed to discover financial or family problems that may have contributed to a patient’s wish to die.

Much more at the link.

http://www.freep.com/article/20070527/NEWS05/70525061/SUICIDE-MACHINE-PART-1-Kevorkian-rushes-fulfill-his-clients-desire-die

You are correct, though. You have your opinion and are completely entitled to it.

I would like to see just how steadfast your opinion is when faced with your or a loved one’s slow, painful and degrading death. Aside from religious delusions of g*d paying you back in the afterlife for the pain and suffering, I think the options Dr. K fought for on behalf of the rest of us work more to better our society than a pretend state of self-righteousness.

…my opinion.

The sad thing is that you are right–Kevorkian was an activist, and the way he conducted these assisted suicides was designed to bring attention to his cause. For example, in the case that lead to his murder conviction, he provided a videotape to 60 Minutes of the suicide. Here’s an excerpt of that segment. As you can see in the segment, he told 60 Minutes that he was providing the video to further his cause.

There are probably multiple reasons, but, in my respecful view, most all of them can be traced to organized superstition.

To end life on someone’s behalf is a very different principle, and one Kevorkian was far too cavalier in implementing.

Thank you for a considered perspective. I have a low opinion of Kevorkian for precisely this reason. Although I believe it is wrong to deprive any person of ownership of their life, that does not make everyone who would would help them end it at the drop of a hat morally praiseworthy.

Your argument is false. That someone is convicted of murder does not imply that the law is immoral. It suggests the opposite.

“If you’ve seen people break down from diseases [...] you would see the humanity in allowing people to die when they so choose.”

The question of whether or not we as a society should allow Dr. assisted suicide is a separate issue. Dr. Kevorkian actively murdered patients who were not terminally ill or even had any disease at all. Those actions would be murder even in countries where assisted suicide is legal. Countries where it is legal also do not allow those suffering from mental illness to choose suicide.

“Very many elderly people who have come to terms with the fact that they don’t have too long left have the one wish that they get to go without suffering.”

My father passed away from metastatic CA a couple years ago. He did not suffer. It is simply not true that our only choice is between suffering a long terminal illness and suicide. It is not true that most of the elderly would choose suicide if given the choice.

“We allow our pets the dignity of death without them having to scream, puke and shit themselves while they die. We aren’t we allowed the same?”

Because we are not mere animals. We have higher cognitive abilities and can value life in a way that no other animal can.

Dr. Kevorkian “made the serious legal mistake of providing too much assistance to people who had lost the ability to operate the machine.”

There was some question whether or not that person had changed his mind and that Dr. Kevorkian ignored this fact. I think that Dr. Kevorkian directly murdered a man in order to “prove something” to the authorities. Taunting the police to arrest you is a classic ploy of serial murderers.

Regardless, Dr. Kevorkian was rightly guilty of murder because he directly administered a fatal dose of a medication he was not licensed to give. Even if assisted suicide were legal participating in one when you are not a licensed MD is murder. We are a nation of laws, not men. Individuals do not get to decide what is or isn’t permissible. Still, if you choose to go outside the law you should be willing to accept the consequences of you decision.

60 percent of Dr. Kevorkian’s victims were not in fact terminally ill.

“I had a great amount of respect for Kevorkian and his values concerning human life and dignity.”

Three of of Dr. Kevorkian’s victims had no disease at all. 17 suffered from chronic pain but were not referred to pain management which could have helped them to manage their pain and likely changed their determination to commit suicide. Dr. Kevorkian committed medical malpractice by not reviewing his patient’s medical history. If we accept suicide as an acceptable treatment for a terminal illness then Dr. Kevorkian committed medical malpractice by not properly diagnosing his patients and conducting little more than a superficial phone interview.

It is immoral to assist in the death of those who are not terminally ill. It is immoral to assist in the suicide of those suffering from clinical depression who’s condition is treatable or who have no disease at all. It is immoral to use other people’s suffering to promote yourself. Murder is immoral and Dr. Kevorkian is guilty of murder.

Dr. Kevorkian was terminally ill with Hep C and yet did not himself commit suicide. This strongly suggests that his stated reasons in favor of assisted suicide were not his operant reasons and that other factors, like self promotion, were in play.

If we do this for a beloved animal and it is considered the right choice, why can’t we do this for a human?