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from Spandan 1996-97 Cover Story on Euthanasia

Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a retired pathologist who burst into the international euthanasia scenario seven years ago by publicly declaring his acts of euthanasia and even advertising for the same. Since 1990 through 1996 he has assisted in the suicide of 45 people. He has been tried in the criminal court many times but has never been convicted.

A frequently asked question of Derek Humphry -- widely regarded as the 'father' of the assisted suicide movement -- is whether Dr. Jack Kevorkian has helped or hindered the 20-year campaign for the right to choose to die. "In my view Kevorkian has been of enormous value because of the extensive publicity that his acts of compassionate help in dying have attracted," stated Humphry. "He is a determined man with great integrity who has forced the medical profession to reconsider its outdated position on euthanasia."

Dr. Kevorkian has devised a novel death machine variously known as mercitron, thanatron, etc. which enables a person to commit suicide by lethal injection or by inhaling carbon monoxide. While the first model induced death by infusing sedatives, a paralyzing agent and then potassium chloride and was used on his first patient, the second model for his next patient had no paralyzing agent. The third model, used for patients 3 to 25, consisted of a tightly fitted mask placed over the face, connected to a canister of carbon monoxide gas.

Dr. Kevorkian has defines terminal illness as "Any disease which curtails survival even for a single day" as opposed to the legal definition "Any disease which curtails survival for 6 months or less". He has been known to describe his mercitron as "It’s execution by lethal injection, except you do it yourself." and "It’s dignified, humane and painless, and the patient can do it in the comfort of their own home anytime they want."

Here are some interesting statistics on the 45 patients (as on Nov. 25, 1996) helped by Dr. Jack Kevorkian to end their lives -

1. Out of his 45 patients, only 15 are males (i.e. one third). The pro camp reacts to this by saying that females are more practical than males and the anti camp says just the opposite.
2. Out of the 45 assisted suicides 21 i.e. nearly 47% are attributed to CNS causes mainly Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (8) and Multiple Sclerosis (10) with only one example each of other causes like Syringomyelia, Alzheimer’s Disease, Spinal disorders, etc. 18 patients had terminal cancer and the remaining 6 had other diseases like failing heart, liver cirrhosis, abdominal and pelvic pain, etc.

Q. How do you decide whom to help? Does the patient have to suffer from  a life-threatening illness?
A. No, of course not. And it doesn’t have to be painful, as with  quadriplegia. But your life quality has to be nil.
Q. And who decides that?
A. That’s up to physicians, and nobody can gainsay what doctors say. It  all boils down to the integrity of the doctors....
Q. What about people who suffer emotionally and want to die?
A. ...Once this gets going as a practice for physically debilitated  people, the psychiatrists are going to have a whopping job because it  is going to be up to them to decide how this fits into their field.

(Source: IAETF, 1995 and ERGO!, 1996, Time Magazine, 1993)

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