Death Or Coffee Research Paper

Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in the United States gained national attention in the early 1990s, when Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a pathologist, conducted over 130 cases of PAS from 1990 to 1998 despite numerous arrests and eventual loss of medical licensure. His first PAS was provided to Janet Adkins, a 54-year-old woman diagnosed with early stage of Alzheimer’s disease (Schneider, 2011). Dr. Kevorkian was then charged with murder, but Michigan’s court of Appeals dropped the case on December 13, 1990, as no laws were in place regarding PAS at that time (Schneider, 2011). In each of the 130 plus cases of PAS, the individuals committed suicide with the devices designed by Dr. Kevorkian. These devices, with the control

Euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is one of the most controversial issues in health care. Euthanasia is intentionally ending one’s life to relieve persistent pain and suffering. Dr. Kevorkian, an assisted suicide activist, was known for using unorthodox methods of terminating a life. As a result, he made headlines in 90’s. Dr. Kevorkian brought dignity to those suffering from unbearable terminal diseases by terminating their life with a lethal dose of potassium chloride. (Schencker, 2015)

“Physician-assisted suicide received greater public attention after Dr. Kevorkian, a retired pathologist from Michigan, participated in his first such procedure in 1990. Kevorkian set up a machine that allowed a 54-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer 's disease (a degenerative neurological condition) to press a button that delivered a lethal poison into her veins. Kevorkian went on to assist in the suicides of dozens of individuals suffering from terminal, debilitating, or chronic illnesses. In 1992, Michigan passed an assisted-suicide bill (Mich. Comp. Laws § 752.1021) that was specifically designed to stop” Suicide sounds bad because it is bad. Either morally, religiously, physically or mentally. Its bad but depending on who it’ll benefit. Pain hurts too much to go forward. Usually death becomes a factor when pain becomes unbearable. Either physical or mental pain. Assisted death laws in the United States allow

“At least 36 terminally ill people died last year after taking lethal medication prescribed by doctors under the Washington State’s new physician assisted suicide law passed in 2009” (Caplin et all). This law makes euthanasia and assisted suicide an option for the terminally ill patient without the interjection from others. Due to the physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia law, terminally ill patients have been requesting physician-assisted suicide more frequently due to the hospital fees, the mental and/or physical health of themselves, and their friends and family. Euthanasia should be passed into law in all fifty states for the well-being of the patients and their families. In the course of this paper the reader will learn the importance and information needed about euthanasia and how it could possibly affect the public in their near or far future.

Jack Kevorkian was very important to assisted suicide. “He helped dozens of terminally ill people end their lives” (Schneider). Dr. Kevorkian spent eight years in prison for second degree murder even though he was just helping patients die. He only assisted these people and helped them die peacefully. Dr. Kevorkian died at age 83 on June 3, 2011. He has helped many patients end suffering and depression in their life, He may not have been the most famous doctor, but his impact made a big difference for many people. This supports my topic because Dr. Kevorkian was one of very few doctors to perform assisted

One of the most contentious issues in the entire field of healthcare and end-of-life care is the notion of assisted suicide, wherein the individual who wishes to end his or her own life is assisted by someone else, usually a physician. As Werner (2005, p. 135) notes, "straightforward answers to the difficult questions concerning the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide are not yet available," but one can at least have a more robust conception of the issue's history, which in turn allows one to confront the contemporary discussion with greater insight. In the United States the topic rose to widespread prominence in the 1990s with the case of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who helped over forty people commit suicide before being convicted of second-degree murder. However, the debate regarding assisted suicide has been raging since at least the beginning of the twentieth-century, when the odd confluence of concerned citizens and eugenics advocates began arguing for legalized assisted suicide. This origin has tended to taint the discussion regarding the practice, and by tracing the history of assisted suicide in the United States, it will be possible to understand how the contemporary discussions of the issue represent a kind of backlash against the admittedly cruel and inhumane Social Darwinism of the early twentieth century.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was charged with second-degree murder and served an eight year prison sentence. (Fridstein. 1). This accomplished physician graduated from the University of Michigan with an impressively high IQ. He was a writer, inventor, movie producer and classical composer. (Kevorkian). Why would a man so intelligent and successful end up in jail for murder? Well believe or not he purposely challenged the legal system in a one man crusade to ignite a national discussion on the subjects of assisted suicide, Euthanasia and one’s constitutional right to choose. Euthanasia is a medical procedure that involves a person being induced with a soothing, relaxing medicine that allows them a peaceful passing. Dr. Kevorkian’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, summed it up best when he said, "We’re just talking about the right not of children and not of mentally incompetent people but the right of mentally competent adults to make decisions about their own bodies as to how much suffering they have to undergo.” (Kevorkian). Euthanasia is not for people experiencing temporary illness or unhappiness. It’s for people who are imprisoned by their own unbearable physical pain for the rest of their lives with no way out. Is it fair to not give those people a choice? Is it fair to make them slowly deteriorate while losing their dignity? I think not. That is why I support euthanasia being legalized, “Dying is not a crime.” (Fridstein. 1).

Dr. Kevorkian is notoriously known for his mission to promote physician-assisted suicide. In his book “Prescription: Medicine, the Goodness of Planned Death”, he explains that it is ethical for the physician to assist patients to commit suicide because the patients are the ones who pull the trigger, not the physicians. Therefore, the patient is responsible for the consequences that follow (Kevorkian 48). For example, Dr. Kevorkian invented a device called Mercitron which was featured on the broadcast of “60 Minutes”. It injects solution to assist terminally ill people in suicide. However, the terminally ill person must pull the plug by himself or herself. Here is the process: The device is placed next to the patient 's bed. Dr. Kevorkian will raise the patients arm vertically and insert the needle. The solution won 't travel upward because of the gravity and air pressure that act on it. Once the patient is ready, he/she can lower the arm below the device and allow the deadly chemical to invade the body. Mr. Youk, a 52-year-old man who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease asked Dr.

Kevorkian handed the tape to the media and after numerous debates and trials was charged with second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison. However, after being diagnosed as terminally ill with Hepatitis C, and from good behavior, Kevorkian was granted parole and spent only eight years in prison. Once released from prison, Kevorkian did not practice assisted suicide any longer, but did spend an ample amount of time giving lectures in regards to many topics including euthanasia. He also fought hard to try to change the laws on assisted suicide.

In 1998 Jack appeared on the television show 60 Minutes. Following the broadcast of the footage he spoke to reporters and asked that the court system pursue him. He was charged with second-degree murder for his involvement in the assisted suicide of Thomas Youk who at the time was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. On March 26th, 1999 the Oakland County jury convicted Jack with second-degree murder and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole. On June 1st, 2007 Jack kevorkian was released from prison after serving 8 years for good behavior. On June 3rd, 2011 Jack Kevorkian died at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan due to heart and kidney

Perhaps Dr. Kevorkian's most famous quote is "Dying is not a crime." I believe his words are absolutely true. To allow someone to die with dignity should not be treated as a criminal act. The words on his tombstone read "He sacrificed himself for everyone's rights." Dr. Kevorkian was 83 years old when he died on June 3, 2011. He chose to not have his life prolonged by any artificial means and died a peaceful, pain-less death -- a choice we should all have regardless of the

, a writer for “The New York Times” wrote: Dr., the medical pathologist who willfully helped dozens of terminally ill people end their lives, becoming the central figure in a national drama surrounding assisted suicide, died on Friday in Royal Oak., Mich. He was 83. … His critics were as impassioned as his supporters, but all generally agreed that his stubborn and often intemperate advocacy of assisted suicide helped spur the growth of hospice care in the United States and made many doctors more sympathetic to

With the help of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the 1990’s, over a hundred individuals received assisted suicide also known as a variation of voluntary euthanasia. Inevitably, people began to ponder whether or not he was merciful or murderous in his actions to aid those individuals. In 1999, Kevorkian was eventually put on trial and arrested for second degree murder. He was sentenced to prison for ten to twenty-five years. Since then, there has been a heated, controversial debate over voluntary euthanasia and what it means to society. This case alone raised some some peculiar questions pertaining to what classifies as our rights to death, our freedom to choose, and how we should tackle the problem. If an existence plagued by pain and suffering due to

US pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who by his own admission has assisted 130 people with their own suicides, has been the target of considerable media and government attention. Kevorkian is the leading "right to die” doctor in the US because of his work providing lethal medication to patients so that they may commit or pursue their own suicides. But the release of a videotape by Kevorkian in January, 1999, showing the physician injecting lethal medication into a patient in Michigan has changed the nature of the controversy from the right to die to medically assisted euthanasia. Kevorkian is charged with murder and faces trial next spring. Dr. Kevorkian is the first known US physician to carry out an act of mercy killing.

Kevorkian made headlines internationally when he undertook a well publicized assisted-suicide campaign between 1990 and 1998 that reportedly ended the lives of approximately one hundred thirty people. Some of those whose deaths Kevorkian facilitated were terminally ill and diagnosed as having less than six months to live, but most were disabled or chronically ill. He would hook his patients up to a “Suicide-Machine” that would result in a painless death. Though controversial, his contributions to the ethical issues of Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia are unparalleled. This issue brought light to people’s free will in choosing death over life and was a key influence in hospitals allowing patients to fill out advanced directives. His work raised the question of whether euthanasia should be legalized and if it is ethical. The media interest brought on by this case illuminated issues such as “Dying with Dignity” and the “Right to Die Movement.” Though his work faced immense opposition, he is still regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern healthcare ethics (Betzold, 1993). Yet another major figure in the field of medical ethics was Hippocrates who is believed to have written the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic oath is a sworn statement that doctors make even today to practice medicine in an ethical manner. It requires a