Image courtesy of CBS
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, pathologist and vocal advocate for assisted suicide, died at the age of 83 at a Michigan hospital.
The infamous Dr. Kevorkian (also known as Dr. Death) achieved celebrity status for his support of doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Twenty-one years ago today, he participated in his first assisted suicide for a patient suffering from Alzheimer’s.
In the next 21 years, Kevorkian would assist over 130 terminally-ill patients end their lives. As a result, Kevorkian is seen as both a merciful hero and as a destructive monster. His life caused divisive debate – and his legacy is sure to as well.
Kevorkian used his own inventions, the Thanatron and Mercitron– a machine that allowed patients to administer the lethal doses of drugs themselves. This system is how Kevorkian escaped criminal prosecution for many years.
However, he eventually released a video of himself giving a lethal dose to an ALS patient. Because of this he was found guilty of second-degree murder and served 8 years in prison before his release in 2008.
His role in assisting in suicide evoked debate about a previously taboo subject – a person’s right to choose their death and brought Kevorkian much criticism.
Kevorkian responded to criticism in a TIME interview,
I will debate so-called ethicists. They are not even ethicists. They are propagandists. I will argue with them if they will allow themselves to be strapped to a wheelchair for 72 hours so they can’t move, and they are catheterized and they are placed on the toilet and fed and bathed. Then they can sit in a chair and debate with me.
Kevorkian’s agitation of debate was perhaps most notable around the issue of doctor-assisted suicide, but his work also caused people to face other important issues around mortality – like living wills, pain relief, the hospice, and other issues surrounding end of life care.
Currently only two states – Oregon and Washington – have laws allowing some form of physician-assisted suicide.
What are your thoughts? Should people be able to decide when to end their life? And what role should doctors play in the process?
