Of all of the people involved in the "right to die
" debate, Dr. Jack Kevorkian has been the most controversial
, and well-known
figure. Although he was not the first physician
to assist his patients with suicides, his determination to create a public debate on the issue has made his name almost synonymous with "physician assisted suicide
." Some call him Dr. Death
; others call him a hero. Just who is this feisty
old man who has sparked so much controversy?
Jack Kevorkian was born on May 28, 1928, the son of Armenian immigrants. A creative and intelligent child, he graduated from the University of Michigan medical school in 1952. He specialized in pathology, the study of corpses to determine cause of death or disease. His slightly unhealthy obsession with the dead earned him the nickname "Doctor Death," a term the media, and especially his enemies, would eventually learn to embrace. His work with the dead and dying led to a relatively important article: his "The Fundus Oculi and the Determination of Death" documented his photography of the eyes of dying patients in an effort to determine a stage at which resuscitation would be impossible.
As if his early medical days weren’t strange enough, in 1958 Kevorkian, while studying about medical procedures of the ancients, came up with a plan to perform medical experiments on death penalty criminals. After one convict agreed to participate, Kevorkian got excited about his plan. He figured it could save both money and lives. He suspected that such research would help the medical community to gain some insight about the nature of the criminal mind. In the end, Kevorkian’s impractical plan gained him a little national publicity. The only group that supported him was an animal rights group that thought his plan might save animals from being tested instead of humans. Kevorkian was laughed out of the spotlight, and the embarrassed University of Michigan told him it was time to find a new job.
Kevorkian’s next research involved the transfusion of blood from cadavers into living people. After testing his theories on some corpses and personnel at his hospital, he tried to sell the idea to the Pentagon, thinking that it would be perfect to use corpse blood on soldiers who can’t wait for "living’ blood to arrive. Once again, Kevorkian’s plans were too radical and morbid to be accepted by mainstream medicine.
Throughout the late 1980s, Dr. Kevorkian studied about euthanasia. Instead of performing experiments on death row inmates, he hoped that terminally ill people would come forward wanting to be euthanized. He tried for several years to put together some kind of clinic where suicidal terminally ill people could go. Here they would be euthanized while Dr. Kevorkian would be performing experiments. All of his plans fell through once again, mostly because of the skepticism of others. After studying the practices of some suicide-assisting physicians in Holland, Kevorkian opted to try a more low-key, patient-centric approach, rather than having a full-fledged death clinic. Still, Kevorkian could not find sane and terminally ill patients that wanted to end their lives. He even took out carefully worded ads in magazines to try to gain some attention. It was only after his invention of the Thanatron ("death machine") that he was able to become "Doctor Death" to the world.
Dr. Kevorkian built the Thanatron out of $30 worth of spare parts from hardware stores and garage sales. Basically, the device was designed so that a weak patient could "pull the trigger" without a physician interfering. After the patient activates the machine, drugs flow into the patient, causing the patient to go into a deep coma. This activates a 60-second timer. After the timer is done, a lethal dose of potassium chloride stops the patient’s heart. The suffering patient dies the painless death of a heart attack during sleep.
On June 4, 1990, Kevorkian finally got the chance to test his Thanatron on a real human being. The patient was Janet Adkins, a member of the pro-euthanasia Hemlock Society. Although she was not terminally ill, she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She died in the back of Kevorkian’s 1968 Volkswagen van. A murder charge against Kevorkian was filed that was later dismissed.
Kevorkian continued helping suffering people commit suicide over the next three years. Carbon monoxide was used instead of the Thanatron in many of these suicides. Kevorkian’s team fought legal battles every step of the way. Finally, legislation banning assisted suicide in Michigan went into effect on March 30, 1999. Kevorkian’s medical license was also suspended. On August 4, Thomas Hyde, a 30 year-old man with ALS, was found dead in Kevorkian’s van. After helping with several additional suicides, Kevorkian was charged with assisted suicide and thrown in jail. While in jail, Kevorkian fasted, and he refused to pay the bail. In December, an Oakland County Circuit Court Judge reduces Kevorkian’s bail to $100 in exchange for the doctor’s word that he will not assist any more patients until the legality of his practice is determined.
After being acquitted on several charges, Kevorkian got his real wish on May 10, 1994. The Michigan Court of Appeals struck down the ban on assisted suicides, claiming that it was enacted unlawfully. Then in November, Oregon voters passed a referendum vote and made assisted suicide legal. Although there are many restrictions on the Death with Dignity Act, Oregon becomes the first state in the union to make assisted suicide legal. Currently, assisted suicide is legal only in Oregon, the Netherlands, Japan, Colombia, and part of Australia. However, between 1994 and 1997, legal hurdles made Oregon’s law symbolic only. Today, assisted suicide is legal, after a second referendum in 1997 gained 60% of the vote. Unfortunately for Kevorkian, Michigan’s suicide ban was ruled constitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court on December 13, 1994.
Over the next few years, Kevorkian’s legal battles continued, as did his assisted suicides. At one point he dressed up in colonial uniform to protest being tried under centuries-old common law. He is eventually acquitted of everything he is charged with, except for one case, which ends in a mistrial. On June 26, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court delivers a blow to Kevorkian and his supporters by unanimously ruling that states have the right to outlaw physician assisted suicide.
Dr. Kevorkian’s most recent and most famous case thus far began in 1998 when CBS’ "60 Minutes" showed videotape (provided by Kevorkian) of Kevorkian giving ALS victim Thomas Youk a lethal injection. Unlike the hundreds of assisted suicides Kevorkian has taken part in, this was straightforward active euthanasia. The euthanasia was voluntary, but not triggered by the patient Youk. Kevorkian released the videotape because he wanted to force the issue on the courts. He also wanted to force it upon the minds of the public.
Three days after the video was aired, Kevorkian was charged with first-degree murder by the state of Michigan. He is also charged with assisted suicide and delivery of a controlled substance. Prosecutors later drop the suicide charge. Kevorkian decided to act as his own attorney, and he made threats to starve himself if he was sent to jail. Last year, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance in the death of Youk. He was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison, with a chance for parole after 6 years. Kevorkian will most likely appeal this verdict until he wins. Until that time, he remains in jail, convicted for the first time, and as controversial as ever.
Write to Dr. K!
Kinross Correctional Facility
Kincheloe MI 49788 USA