Dr Jack Kerovorkian Research Paper

The movie You Don’t Know Jack is about the work and life of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, an advocate for physician-assisted suicide. He fought to legalize euthanasia for patients suffering from terminal illnesses and debilitating pain. Although I don’t support the way Kevorkian went about choosing those he helped, I do support physician-assisted suicide fully, as well as euthanasia, when backed by laws that ensure the process isn’t abused. With a second opinion and an evaluation proving the patient is mentally capable of making and understanding the choice to end his own life, patients should have the right to make this choice.

“A serial mercy killer” (The Right To Die, 80). This is what some would define what Kevorkian did. Kevorkian, however does not feel this way. He performs his acts for the greater good in his eyes. However, he never hesitated to try any other treatments that could result in the patient’s improved health, whether it be antibiotics, or even experimental drug maintenance programs (The Right To Die, 82). He feels that medically assisted suicide is an essential option to those that are incurable and dying (The Right To Die, 83). Kevorkian’s main concern for his terminal patients was their comfort and confidence in their decision. He explains the death his patient’s experienced as being “like a painless heart attack in a deep sleep”(The Right To Die,

This was hardly “doing it right” as Dr. Kevorkian likes to believe. (The New York Times, 2007, para.6)

After talks with her husband, sons, minister, and local doctors; Janet Adkins decided she didn¹t want to undergo the sustained mental deterioration that Alzheimer¹s Disease caused (Uhlman 111). She began to realize she had the disease when she started forgetting songs and failed to recognize notes as she played the piano (Filene 188). ³She read in Newsweek about Dr. Jack Kevorkian and his ŒMercitron¹ machine, then saw him on the ŒDonahue¹ Television show² (Filene 188). With her husband¹s consent but objections by sons and doctors, she telephoned him to arrange to kill herself (Filene 188). She still had a life expectancy of at least ten years with the illness, but she wished to die. She wanted to die before the disease robbed her of her

Jack Kevorkian was a doctor who assisted terminally ill patients to commit suicide. He believed that they had the right to die in an appropriate way; to die with dignity. He therefore invented a machine (called thanatron—a Greek word for death machine) which could take away his patients’ lives painlessly and efficiently, all they had to do was to push a button and their lives would be ended by either deadly injection or carbon monoxide poisoning. There had been at least one hundred patients who tried and died in this method. Dr. Kevorkian was charged several times with murder in these deaths. Lucky for him, a judge dismissed one of his charges because there was no evidence of murder. Jury did not find him guilty either. Nevertheless, he

“Dr. Death and his suicide machine”. Jack Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Death, was an American pathologist who was also a painter, a composer, an author, and an instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing the belief that it is morally correct to put terminally ill patients out of their misery through a practice called euthanasia. Dr. Kevorkian assisted around 130 patients to suicide and went to jail because of what he believed in. In 1999 Dr. Kevorkian was charged with second-degree murder, he was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison but he only did a time of 8 years. Even after he went to jail for this practice he continued to believe in it. Euthanasia isn’t acceptable unless it’s in extreme circumstances. Usually a doctor has to do

The infamous story of Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a unique one. Professor Hengameh M. Hosseini

In 1993, Thomas W. Hyde, a thirty-three year old male came to Jack Kevorich. He was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was unable to swallow without choking, was paralyzed, and had to go through continuous suction procedures. Jack Kevorich was a pathologist who assisted in patient suicide. Kevorich hooked him up to a carbon monoxide mask. Once Thomas decided to pull a sting monoxide would flow through the mask. Twenty minutes later Thomas Hyde died. Thomas Hyde was recorded on video telling Kevorich that he wanted to end his suffering and die. Kevorich was arrested in 1992.

In order to euthanize a patient, Dr. Kevorkian had to brainstorm, and create an easy, painless, and peaceful way to carry out this process. As the book “Between the Dying and the Dead” (2006) states, In 1989, Dr. Kevorkian invented the Thanatron, which translates from Greek to English as the "Death Machine." In 1953, Kevorkian got his

It was in 1990’s when the topic of assisted suicide reached an all-time high. It was the work of Doctor Jack Kevorkian that began in 1960 that sparked the topic of “right to die” legislative action. Doctor Kevorkian was a Michigan doctor responsible for the deaths some 44 suicides for terminally ill patients. Doctor Kevorkian along with many accredited doctors such as Marcia Angell, agree on one main point; terminally-ill patients should have the right to determine how they should end their life. Marcia Angell, states in her article The Supreme Court and Physician-Assisted Suicide-The Ultimate Right that “Although others may consider

Although PAS has been around for several years, many people have a misinterpretation of what physician assisted suicide or PAS really is. In the early 1980s, Dr Kevorkian was widely known in the media for having assisted terminally ill patients with ending their lives. Dr. Kevorkian, an outspoken supporter of PAS was somewhat of a pioneer in this area however, he was arrested and put

“Dr. Death” was the first to be known for euthanizing and assisting his patients with suicide by

In 1990, Jack Kevorkian assisted in the death of Janet Adkins. Adkins was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. After her diagnosis, she started searching for someone to help her end her life before the Alzheimer's took on its full effect. Adkins contacted Jack Kevorkian for his assistance. Jack Kevorkian did his residency at the University of Michigan where he became interested by death and the act of dying (Biography). After many experiments and writing articles, he created the "suicide machine". This machine consisted of three bottles: saline, a painkiller and a fatal dose of potassium chloride. After his contact with Adkins, Kevorkian agreed to assist with ending her life. “They met in a public park in Michigan where Kevorkian put an IV into

Dr.Jack Kevorkian was A Famous physician who helped numerous patients to commit suicide. According to the article entitled “Assisted suicide right to die proponents split” I learned that “Mr. Kevorkian became national when he first helped 54-year old Janet Adkins kill herself with his hand made death machine through lethal injection” (Tim Devaney,1)

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).