Kevorkian Will Not Assist In Any Suicides

After More Than 8 Years In Prison, Kevorkian Says Assisted Suicide "Should Be Legal"

(CBS)  Youk's family — his wife Melody, brothers Terry and Bob, and his mother Betty — all said he was a fighter, but that he finally decided he needed Dr. Kevorkian.

"I was so grateful to know that someone would relieve him of his suffering. I don’t consider it murder. I consider it humane; I consider it the way things should be," Melody Youk told Wallace in 1998.

"And I take it that you would not be sitting here unless you thought it was useful — socially useful — to have this broadcast," Wallace asked.

"Absolutely," Youk's brother Terry said. "We were at the end of our rope. We didn’t have any options. And if it weren’t for Dr. Kevorkian, I’m not sure what we would have done."

What the prosecutors did, after seeing the 60 Minutes broadcast, was to charge Dr. Kevorkian with murder. He had wanted a trial, but he didn’t get the trial he had expected. The judge did not let Tom Youk's relatives testify or allow evidence about Youk's condition. The judge ruled that since the charge was murder, the key legal issue was whether Kevorkian had caused Tom Youk's death, and his own tape proved that he had.

The world's most famous mercy killer received no mercy from Judge Jessica Cooper. "You had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did, and dare the legal system to stop you. Well Sir, consider yourself stopped," she said.

The judge sentenced Kevorkian to ten to 25 years. With time off for good behavior, he served eight and a half years. And now that he's free, he’s as feisty as ever.

"I want you to live up to your reputation," Kevorkian tells Wallace.

"What’s that, tough?" Wallace asked

"You’ve got to strafe me," Kevorkian says.

"Oh, all right," Wallace remarks. "You regret helping Tom Youk?

"No, why would I regret that?" Kevorkian asks. "That's like asking a veterinarian, 'Do you regret helping that person's animal?'"

"Well, wait a minute. Tom Youk was a man. And it was a compassionate murder, but you murdered him," Wallace says.

"But it was a man whose life didn't measure up anymore. You know, David Hume said it, 'No man ever threw away a life while it was worth keeping,'" Kevorkian responds.

"But you’re the judge of whether it’s worth keeping?" Wallace asks.

"No, the patient’s the judge," Kevorkian says.

"After we showed you ending Tom Youk’s life, we got an avalanche of letters from people with Lou Gehrig's disease and from their families who thought that by helping Tom, you were implying that all patients who had Lou Gehrig's disease should kill themselves," Wallace says.

"Well that's what they assumed," Kevorkian replied.

Asked if he thinks that all people with Lou Gehrig's disease should kill themselves, Kevorkian says, "Of course not! I think the ones who go on suffering without complaining and want to, I think that’s laudable."

"Did making Tom Youk’s death public, and the means by which, did that advance your cause or set it back?" Wallace asks.

"That's an iffy question," Kevorkian responds after a long pause. "And I don’t know if it advanced it more than it set it back."

[DEDE990]

I PERSONALY THINK THAT DR.KEVORKIAN SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN PRISON.....IM SORRY BUT THATS WHAT HE DESERVED

[donnie900]

Is there a way to make a death so complicated that it looks like suicide? And by what complication? Medicine??

Is there a way to make a murder look like suicide? And could advise by a self proclaimed doctor in the medical profession be such that it isn't suicide? But murder??

Why are smart people so stupid? Is there such a thing as intellectual suffering? The suffering I'm feeling right now of the rationalization of a medical professional helping people die?

[donnie900]

Can we all at least agree that death is loosely associated with murder?

Can we also agree that suicide by anyone other than one's own self is questionable at best, if not murderous?

[donnie900]

How many PHDs do I gotta get before I can kill somebody?

[donnie900]

How do you know death lacks suffering? Are they being incapacitated to the point where they can't convey their pain? Or are they out of pain?

Don't you see what I'm asking? How do you know this stuff? Is a man being boiled in a pot of oil with a gag on his mouth "not in pain"? Who are you serving? Your sense? Or his?

[herbias]

If you want to see how American Doctors reacted to Kevorkians comments with Larry King go to http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J6431/

[herbias]

If you want to see how American Doctors reacted to Kevorkians comments with Larry King go to http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J6431/

[herbias]

If you want to see how American Doctors reacted to Kevorkians comments with Larry King go to http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J6431/

[mikealford3]

esesel,
I agree, unless someone is in those shoes they will never know the miles walked nor the obstacles that they have endured. I also agree that it is your choice and should you choose to end your suffering, I wish you and your family the peace that you so deserve. You are a courageous person for living with ALS and for whatever decision you choose.

I wish you and your family only the best.

[esesel]

I have been suffering the nightmare of Lou Gehrig's disease for nearly 5 years. I am in the same condition as the man Dr. Kevorkian "assistance" was, which led to his imprisonment. I understand completely why the man chose death over misery. Until you've spent one day in my skin, you cannot judge why I too should have the right to chose a dignified death over constant, unrelenting torment.
I also live in Oregon, the only state which allows Dr. assisted suicide. Because my life insurance policy won't pay if I commit suicide, only this fact keeps me from exercising my right to die a dignified death. My prayers for release go unanswered.

[mikealford3]

Well, theres a presumption that death lacks suffering. Right? Is that a wrong thing to speculate about? Is peace death?

Posted by donnie900 at 07:39 AM : Jun 05, 2007

Questions for you donnie, have you ever heard a dead person screem in agony, or throw up their lunch? Have you ever been to a funeral and heard the deceased complain?


donnie900,
I don't think you fully understand the topic. To answer your question, Death does lack suffering. The act of dieing however, is horrible and ugly. Once dead the suffering is over. Unless, the dead goes to he11.(provided you believe there is a he11, I do believe in heaven and he11.)

Fact is donnie, I have been dead, July 6, 1984 to be exact. 16 minutes, according to the EMTs that were transporting me. I did not feel any pain or suffering during that 16 minutes. I saw my grandfathers during that 16 minutes. One died of multiple gun shots to his head and the other from heart disease, they did not appear to be suffering.

As for peace in death, yes, a person can find peace within death.

[mikealford3]

GrammaWhamma,
I have thought about you 3:15 AM post. The idea of prolonging death is not correct. To prolong is to extend, therefore by extending life you are postponing death, not prolonging it. Life has a finite length of time because eventually all people die, therefore life can be prolonged by preventing death. The more days a person lives the more prolonged is the person's life. The actual length of a person's life can be calculated by determining the amount of time between birth and death. However, because once a person is dead that person will be dead for an infinite amount of time/eternity/forever. (barring they are not resusitated and returned to life.) Since death is considered forever, and forever can't be extended, YOU ACTUALLY CANNOT PROLONG DEATH.

[sfiske2]

My husband died of colon cancer in 2001.He had been on hospice for 2 mths & thought it was for pain management. 2 doctors had to diagnose him with only 6 months to live (1 was his oncologist, the other the hospice doctor who had never seen him). Pain meds were increased as my husband told the hospice nurse that he had some pain. Towards the end, I became very frustrated and said to the hospice nurse that I would call Dr. K if he weren%u2019t in prison. She responded that she didn%u2019t believe in that. The very next morning, she called me to say she%u2019d spoken with the doctor about my husband and they were increasing the pain meds. I asked her why? She said that sometimes when the pain meds are increased the patient goes ahead and passes on. Can someone please explain the moral difference between increasing pain meds and the injections Dr K gave? 1 difference %u2013 Dr K was upfront with the patient and had the patient%u2019s full awareness of what was going to happen.

[donnie900]

Death scares me. But you knew that, didn't you.

[donnie900]

A doctor shouldn't visit someone with intent of facilitating for their death intending the elimination of their suffering. A doctor is more a scientific endeavor than it is a spiritual, or superstitious one. It seems to me the better suited grim reeper for these people to be of a non-professional nature. Such as a monk or a priest.

[donnie900]

Sorry to keep rambling on but, if Dr. Kevorkian thinks its his job to alleviate pain and suffering via death, is not what he's doing dangerously close to a religion? And if its a religion, when does a patient's belief interfere with a professionals service? And vice versa? In other words, does someone become a doctor to facilitate for religious rituals? Or to cure the patient of their ailment?

I'm not entirely sure a doctor's job should be the elimination of suffering. The elimination of suffering is merely a healthy side effect of the original theme of curing one's ailment. Suffering comes in many many forms. Including things quite subjective. For instance, is it the job of a doctor to make someone wealthy? Is that too not a thing of suffering? Being poor?

[donnie900]

This debate sort of reminds me of SETI being secular.

[donnie900]

Well, theres a presumption that death lacks suffering. Right? Is that a wrong thing to speculate about? Is peace death? I don't know. How does the doc know? How does the patient?

[utena-2009]

And although I feel that people should never suffer against their will, part of me hopes that a terminally ill patient pushes a button that sends an armed nuclear missile straight to the heart of Agnim's hometown.

[utena-2009]

Well, Agnim, I'd have to say that you are one of the most callous people I've read.

Anyone who says 'You don't need a doctor to commit suicide. Just do it yourself' is essentially saying 'You don't need a doctor to perform an abortion. Just do it yourself.'

Such an attitude is callous and inhumane. Why should people be limited to jumping in front of a train, off a building, shooting themselves, cutting their wrists, bringing a toaster into the bath, or a combination of these methods, among many others, to kill themselves?.

Now, they certainly can't tell their family or friends about their plans, because that could leave them open to charges: 'Why didn't you stop them?' And when they come back and see their loved one with a plastic bag over their head, or blood all over the room, they are shocked and scarred, possibly for life. And on top of this, they can't even *be* with their loved one during their final moments.

As for 'do no harm', please refer to my previous post on this topic.