News & Politics - Kevorkian Released From Jail

Indian Summer · 06-05-2007, 01:13 AM

I was surprised to see there wasn't an article on this since I think Kevorkian's certainly an interesting and relevant person to discuss, especially since assisted suicide is legal in Oregon and is being voted on in California this week.

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'Dr Death' released from US jail
Jack Kevorkian: Controversial and divisive figure
Jack Kevorkian, the man known as Dr Death and who helped the terminally ill to die, has been released from prison in the US state of Michigan.

Kevorkian was convicted in 1999 of the murder by injection of terminally ill Thomas Youk. A video of him dying was broadcast on television.

Kevorkian, 79, had served eight years of a 10-25 year sentence.

He has pledged not to counsel people on suicide but says he will continue to fight for the right to euthanasia.

Kevorkian won parole after an appeal based on his own failing health.

He emerged from prison, with his lawyer and a correspondent for the CBS television network, saying the release was "one of the high points of life", the Associated Press news agency reported.

TV interview

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York says Jack Kevorkian was among the most controversial and divisive figures in 1990s America.

The elderly former pathologist insisted that patients living in pain had the right to die.

Our correspondent says Kevorkian proudly claimed to have helped some 130 people to end their lives, many using his so-called mercy machine, which delivered lethal amounts of drugs intravenously.

Some of the assisted suicides were in the back of his Volkswagen van.

His methods alienated many. In 1998 he offered on a "first come, first served" basis the kidneys of a man he had helped to die.

Kevorkian fought a long battle with the authorities in Michigan, thwarting four attempts to convict him despite the revocation of his medical licence in 1991 and a ban on assisted suicides to stop his work.

Thomas Youk suffered from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, a wasting disorder of the nervous system, also known as motor neurone disease.

A jury convicted Kevorkian of second-degree murder after watching the video of him injecting lethal drugs into Mr Youk.

Kevorkian had sent the video for broadcast on the CBS show 60 Minutes.

He plans to return to the show in an interview on Sunday.

Prior to his release, Kevorkian told a TV station in Detroit: "[Euthanasia] has got to be legalised. I'll work to have it legalised but I sure won't break any laws."

His release coincides with a key vote next week in California on allowing assisted suicides. Only the state of Oregon has passed such legislation.

Kevorkian's release has brought mixed emotions from the relatives of those he helped die.

Thomas Youk's brother, Terry, said: "It was a medical service that was requested and... compassionately provided by Jack. It should not be a crime."

But Tina Allerellie believed her sister, Karen Shoffstall, was suffering depression and doubted that she wanted to die.

"His intent, I believe, has always been to gain notoriety," Ms Allerellie said.

Source

I'm certainly pro-euthanasia, so I'm happy he's a free man. I know the family of one of his victims and they've been very supportive of him as well.

elisheva · 06-05-2007, 04:25 AM

I'm personally incredibly wary of assisted suicide/euthanasia. I think it's too dangerous.

migamoo · 06-05-2007, 07:51 AM

I'm for euthanasia if the person wants it. I don't want it to be like "The Giver" or something and kill the old just to kill them or something like that. And I think there should be strict laws concerning it, but I don't think it's an entirely bad thing.

Indian Summer · 06-05-2007, 08:28 AM

I definitely agree that there should be strict laws for it, but I definitely don't think it should be illegal. Like with Kevorkian, his clients were terminally ill and for the most part, in chronic pain as well. These aren't people who are just struggling with a bout of depression that if they get over, everything will be better. In a way, I think it's a "safe" thing, which is kind of messed up since the goal is death, to have people who can legally assist someone who wants to die. But there are drugs like morphine that people can overdose on and if administered right, there aren't really any side effects, and this way there aren't botched attempts.

Jacob1983 · 06-05-2007, 10:58 AM

I think Dr. Death got off pretty light. I saw him on Larry King last night and it said he had helped kill over 130 people. I think it's a slippery slope on the whole assisted suicide thing. It's still murder even if the person agrees to do it. Dr. Death should have gotten life in my opinion. Doctors are suppose to help save people, not kill them. Common sense.

migamoo · 06-05-2007, 11:45 AM

I wouldn't say doctors are here to help "save" people, but to help them. If the person wants help to die, why not?

pleasecomehome · 06-05-2007, 12:00 PM

Wow, I had no idea he was released ..

Indian Summer · 06-05-2007, 12:29 PM

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Originally Posted by Jacob1983 (View Post)

I think Dr. Death got off pretty light. I saw him on Larry King last night and it said he had helped kill over 130 people. I think it's a slippery slope on the whole assisted suicide thing. It's still murder even if the person agrees to do it. Dr. Death should have gotten life in my opinion. Doctors are suppose to help save people, not kill them. Common sense.

Actually, doctors agree to do no harm. Sometimes putting people out of their misery is the only way to do that. I don't know about you, but if I were dying from a terminal, painful illness, I certainly wouldn't mind ending my suffering with a morphine overdose or something of that sort. We don't make animals suffer from pain that isn't fixable- we put horses down when they break their legs, dogs after bad accidents or terminal diagnoses- so why should we be so inhumane as to force humans to suffer alone?

Jacob1983 · 06-05-2007, 01:10 PM

How do we know that all of Dr. Death's patients or victims wanted to die? Couldn't it be possible that some of them may have wanted to live but Dr. Death just had to get a fix and decided to take one of his patients' lives? Kevorkian comes off as one of those people who gets high off killing people.
Horses and dogs are different from human beings. They usually don't live in their 70s either.
Putting someone out of their misery isn't always the best thing. Besides, some people may want to continue to live even if they're in pain and misery ever day. Dr. Death played God in a way and he took away people's free will and their will to live. He was probably very convincing and manipulative toward his victims.
Like I said before, doctors are suppose to save lives not end them.

abw92 · 06-05-2007, 03:56 PM

I am pro killing the people if they want to die. But people and the family don't really know if they want to die. Dr. Death could have killed the people when the victim didn't want to die. I still think that Dr. Death got off too lightly. After killing all those people, he should have spent more time in jail.

migamoo · 06-05-2007, 05:48 PM

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Originally Posted by Jacob1983 (View Post)

How do we know that all of Dr. Death's patients or victims wanted to die?

If I'm not mistaken, he had them all sign something saying that it was their decision.

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Kevorkian comes off as one of those people who gets high off killing people.

How? From what I've seen of the man, he just helped to put people out of their misery. He even waited to help some, just to make sure that this is what they wanted to do.

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Horses and dogs are different from human beings. They usually don't live in their 70s either.

Maybe they don't get to 70 physically, but dogs and other animals do have equivalents to those ages as well. We don't let them suffer, so why should humans have to suffer?

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Dr. Death played God in a way and he took away people's free will

He didn't do something against the patient's will, so how did he take away their free will? He didn't force anyone to let him kill them, so again, how did he take away the free will?

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Like I said before, doctors are suppose to save lives not end them.

Doctors are to there to help people. Whether it be to help end their life or to save it. I think it should be up to the patient to decide which. Besides, what about people who have DNR orders, are doctors supposed to go against that because you think they are there to "save lives?"

Jacob1983 · 06-05-2007, 06:13 PM

All I'm saying is that I would not trust Dr. Death at all. I definately wouldn't want him looking after any of my relatives or friends. The man cannot be trusted. How do we know that he did not coerce or manipulate a lot of his victims into thinking they were terminally ill and could not be saved? It's possible to think that.

Dr. Death is a murderer and I believe his conviction proves that. He has taken dozens of people's lives. It doesn't matter if some of them wanted to die. It's still murder.
And I'm sure Kevorkian may have gotten some of his victims to give permission when they were not in a clear state of mind.

Indian Summer · 06-05-2007, 06:55 PM

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Originally Posted by Jacob1983 (View Post)

All I'm saying is that I would not trust Dr. Death at all. I definately wouldn't want him looking after any of my relatives or friends. The man cannot be trusted. How do we know that he did not coerce or manipulate a lot of his victims into thinking they were terminally ill and could not be saved? It's possible to think that.

Are you even familiar with Kevorkian or his practice? People sought him out and signed pages and pages of waivers and documentation saying they'd thought through the decision and wanted to die. They traveled to him from all over the country. How do you coerce someone who comes to you asking to die? It's not like these were patients who were under his care before they asked to die. He only entered their lives after they'd already made that decision.

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Dr. Death is a murderer and I believe his conviction proves that. He has taken dozens of people's lives. It doesn't matter if some of them wanted to die. It's still murder.

So when a vet puts down a sick dog, they've murdered the dog? Your logic is more than a little fuzzy.

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And I'm sure Kevorkian may have gotten some of his victims to give permission when they were not in a clear state of mind.

Once again, these were people who had been dealing with terminal illnesses and chronic pain. They were going to die anyway. After much thought and reflection, they came to the conclusion that they wanted to control their deaths, and sought Kevorkian out at that point.

WildAtHeart · 06-05-2007, 10:23 PM

i'm one of the people who thinks it should be allowed if the person is in intense pain and there is no chance of him/her surviving the illness getting healthy again. For me, it's kinda similar to how family members have the option of taking another member off of life-support if the machines are the only things keeping the patient alive.

Jacob1983 · 06-06-2007, 12:59 AM

Indiansummer, I have heard of Kevorkian. I have seen him many times on 60 Minutes and other news magazines. He cannot be trusted. His uses his power of authority to committ crimes. He should not be able or allowed to play God.
It's joke that he was paroled. The courts should have given him life or the dealth penalty in my opinion. Besides, what if some of his patients/victims had changed their minds about the decision to end their lives?
The man should not be allowed to help people kill themselves. It's highly unethical for a doctor and definately immoral for a person to do.

Taking a person off life support is completely different than what Dr. Death did. In most cases, people on life support have either no hope or very little hope of ever recovering.
With terminally ill people, there is always a chance they may overcome their illness or that there was a misdiagnosis. I believe recently there was a case in which a man was told he was going to die in less than a year and he went on a spending spree then found out he was perfectly fine.


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