Dr. Jack Kevorkian's "60 Minutes" interview

By: Overtime Staff
Topics: 60 Rewind

Of all the interviews he conducted for "60 Minutes," Mike Wallace often said none had a greater impact than this one.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian had long been a public advocate of assisted suicide for the terminally ill. From 1990 to 1998, he claimed to have helped end the lives of some 130 willing subjects. In September of 1998, Dr. Jack Kevorkian videotaped himself injecting Thomas Youk, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, with a dose of lethal drugs.

Two months later, that videotape, along with Wallace's interview with Kevorkian, aired on "60 Minutes," sparking a national outcry. In March of 1999, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10-to-25 years in prison. He was released in 2007. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was 83 when he died. He suffered from kidney and heart problems and died, according to news reports, of natural causes.

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by Chandradutst June 18, 2011 1:57 AM EDT: I'm for it but there have to be at least 2 other witnesses to assure that everything is on the up and up (the one who administers the lethal shot) and that the process should have a very specific protocol.

I don't see why a person who is going through so much pain should have to continue to suffer if the only thing that gives them solace is pain medication that in turn makes them unable to live life. It would be cruel that we insist they live just so we can feel better about ourselves.; Reply to this comment


by hokuaoe June 7, 2011 12:44 PM EDT: People are so narrow minded and selfish...it is always me me me and stay here for me, but when someone is in pain they still want them to continue to suffer instead of being merciful and letting them go...I say if someone is dying and they are suffering, they should have the right to end the suffering however is most fit...people need to get over the me me me's and learn how to say whatever you need I understand, and they need to learn to understand and deal with it because it is the other person's life not theirs; Reply to this comment


by KarenSedd June 6, 2011 12:44 AM EDT: What bothers me is putting everyone in control of their final destiny- and here's why: I had a traumatic incident when I was 19. I lost touch with myself...and with my entire family and wen I was 24 and waking up, my Grandmother and Grandfather, simultaneously, I had found out, were in nursing homes...They were so very dear to me it is indescribable- and I had been lost in a phase of complete numbness to myself and the world while this occurred.

as stoic as they seemed in the Nursing home, when I brought them together (They were in separate places), looking at the wall seeing completely out of it, when they sat at opposite ends of a couch, their hands found their way to eachother's. THis was an unbelievable moment.

But more, I had a chance to say goodbye. It was not that long after I saw them once or twice that they each passed, one after the other. TO this day I can tell you- it may seem selfish, but had I missed the opportunity to say goodbye, this traumatic period of my life would have been multiple times over more difficult to recover from. Forgiveness would have been scorchingly difficult,

I believe they helped on...for me. If they had complained and in one moment felt like leaving this earth before that time, I would not have had this opportunity with them, this closure.

We are not in control of everything- and sometimes we don't know why things are happening the way they do. I'm not saying someone should suffer- but there needs to be at least more thought..more everything...before we take time into our own hands in my opinion.; Reply to this comment


by ZolaZHZ June 3, 2011 5:24 PM EDT: I attended Thane Rosenbaum's interview with Dr. Jack Kevorkian last year. It was fascinating to hear him speak about his career and his opinion of the judicial system live and in person. The Forum interview was probably one of his last. They recently posted it online too- http://www.forumonlawcultureandsociety.org/blog/2011/05/25/happy-birthday-dr-death/; Reply to this comment

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