Jack Kevorkian

In the summer of 1989, an unknown and disenfranchised doctor created a machine that would assist ill patients in ending their lives. The machine began by intravenous delivery of a saline solution into the patient's body. Then, when the patient pushed a button, the saline stopped, and thiopental, which put the patient into a coma, was delivered for 60 seconds. When the thiopental ran out, a lethal dose of potassium chloride was delivered. The machine was called “Thanatron” by the doctor, which is Greek for “death machine.” Although the doctor, Jack Kevorkian, continually ran ads in the paper to solicit “customers,” his death machine went unused until the following summer.

On November 13, 1989, Ronald Adkins of Portland, Oregon, who read an article about Jack Kevorkian, called the doctor for a consultation. Mr. Adkins's wife, Janet, was only 54 years of age and was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. On June 4, 1990, Mrs. Adkins was the first person to die with the assistance of Dr. Kevorkian. Using the “suicide machine” designed by Kevorkian, Janet Adkins died from lethal injection. Over the next 9 years, Jack Kevorkian assisted many other patients in ending their lives.

Thomas Youk of Waterford, Michigan, was 52 years of age and suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition in which the person experiences severe muscle spasms and atrophy. In 1998, Mr. Youk had a consultation with Dr. Kevorkian, and on September 17, 1998, with the assistance of the doctor, he died from lethal injection. This was Kevorkian's 105th assisted suicide, and the 10th since he reported that he would ignore state laws banning assisted suicide. Days after the death of Thomas Youk, Kevorkian was accused of first-degree murder and assisted suicide. On November 11, 1998, 60 Minutes aired a video recording on national television of Kevorkian assisting in Youk's death. The doctor, acting as his own attorney, was found guilty of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance on March 26, 1999, and in April was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 6 years.

Kevorkian, whose medical training was in pathology, had always been interested in death and dying. He received the nickname “Dr. Death” during his residency at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Although his interest in death resulted in rejection from the medical community, he spent many years of his life writing research proposals on research with corpses. Kevorkian had developed the belief early in his training as a doctor that doctor-assisted euthanasia is always ethical and acceptable. His strong belief in the ethics of doctor-assisted euthanasia became evident much later in his life.

On June 4, 1990, Dr. Kevorkian performed his first assisted suicide. Even once incarcerated, he continued to be passionate about his belief in the practice and fasted for nearly 4 weeks after his conviction. Despite Kevorkian's belief that he was assisting the ill and acting both ethically and compassionately, his beliefs were not accepted by the general medical community or the general public. After he was sentenced to prison, members of an organization named “Not Dead Yet” were pleased with the jury's verdict, indicating that they believed that Dr. Kevorkian was a serial murderer.

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