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Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Who Most Famously Allowed Himself to Be Seen Assisting a Patient’s Death on ’60 Minutes,’ Dead at 83

Jun 3, 2011  •  Post A Comment

"Known as Dr. Death even before launching his fierce advocacy and practice of assisted suicides, [Dr. Jack] Kevorkian, 83, died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak [Mich.], where he had been hospitalized with kidney and heart problems," the Detroit Free Press reports.

The article continues, "His attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said it appears Kevorkian suffered a pulmonary thrombosis when a blood clot from his leg broke free and lodged in his heart. With Kevorkian were his niece Ava Janus and Morganroth. ‘It was peaceful, he didn’t feel a thing,’ Morganroth said. Morganroth said there were no artificial attempts to keep Kevorkian alive and no plans for a memorial."

The physican’s life was the subject of the HBO movie "You Don’t Know Jack" last year, which won Al Pacino an Emmy and Golden Globe for his portrayal of Kevorkian.

According to the Free Press: "In 1998 Kevorkian videotaped himself injecting [52-year-old Thomas] Youk [who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, and] had it broadcast on ’60 Minutes,’ and then acted as his own lawyer in the ensuing Oakland County murder trial. Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and drew a 10-25-year prison term at his 1999 sentencing. He was released in 2005 and discharged from parole in 2009."

In the Reuter’s obituary about Kevorkian the newswire writes: "In a June 2010 interview with Reuters Television, the right-to-die activist said he was afraid of death as much as anyone else and said the world had a hypocritical attitude toward voluntary euthanasia, or assisted suicide.’Now we’ve avoided death because we don’t like death. Religion says that’s a big enemy, leave it alone. But we went beyond birth, into conception. Now we’re dabbling in that,’ he said. ‘If we can aid people into coming into the world, why can’t we aid them in exiting the world?’"

One Comment

  1. Since he thought it was so good for everyone else, it is surprising he didn’t off himself. You have to question his conviction.

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