Dr. Kevorkian - dead at 83

[GoldenRivet]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/03/us-kevorkian-idUSTRE7523JP20110603

(Reuters) - Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, known as "Dr. Death" for helping more than 100 people end their lives, died early on Friday at age 83, his lawyer said.
Kevorkian died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he had been hospitalized for about two weeks with kidney and heart problems, said Mayer Morganroth, Kevorkian's attorney and friend.


say what you will... i support assisted suicide myself. if you are doomed to a long and drawn out illness with little hope for treatment that is sure to result in your death, cost your family hundreds of thousands of dollars, and force them to live a life dominated by your immanent demise... by all means i think you should receive the best possible medical assistance in ending your own life in a humane and dignified manner.

[Jimbuna]

Personally speaking I'm neither for or against but it would be pretty hard to argue against the points you've detailed above John.

[Tchocky]

Kidney and heart problems? .....hypocrite

[Armistead]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/03/us-kevorkian-idUSTRE7523JP20110603



say what you will... i support assisted suicide myself. if you are doomed to a long and drawn out illness with little hope for treatment that is sure to result in your death, cost your family hundreds of thousands of dollars, and force them to live a life dominated by your immanent demise... by all means i think you should receive the best possible medical assistance in ending your own life in a humane and dignified manner.

I agree, I've seen many friends that have the same nerve disease I do in late stages take their lives, sad they couldn't had it done it a easier way with help.

[Platapus]

Kidney and heart problems? .....hypocrite

Please explain why you feel he was a hypocrite?

[Sailor Steve]

Please explain why you feel he was a hypocrite?
Exactly what I was about to ask. You beat me to it.

[Tchocky]

Bad joke, shame it was the first thing that came to mind :)

[Sailor Steve]

Bad joke
Not necessarily. Rude jokes are not always bad. The problem here is that we didn't get it, so we thought you were serious. Anyway, no harm done. :sunny:

[mookiemookie]

say what you will... i support assisted suicide myself. if you are doomed to a long and drawn out illness with little hope for treatment that is sure to result in your death, cost your family hundreds of thousands of dollars, and force them to live a life dominated by your immanent demise... by all means i think you should receive the best possible medical assistance in ending your own life in a humane and dignified manner.

Hear hear.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'm with you GR. There has to be a point where a sane person can say they've had enough - there obviously would have to be very strict controls but even to lessen one persons suffering through their own choice would be better than none.

[Betonov]

Anyone seen the movie: You don't know Jack

Kevorkian was played by Al Pacino. Good movie, but Kevorkian looked in it like a some mad scientist, always thinking up some elaborate gizmos to help someone die.

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132623/


Grimm fact of the day: did you know the Roman army surgeons had with them a pick and hammer and after a battle they went around the battlefield looking for wounded, and if they found someone stil lalive but knowing he wont make it, they took that pick and hammer and they would nail it trough his skull just above the neck, effectivly eutanising the soldier and spare him a painfull dying

[GoldenRivet]

Spike through the head... sounds horrible, but not more so than laying there in anguish for several hours. at least you would die pretty much instantly.

Where Dr. Kevorkian is concerned - his way IMHO was humane.

One drug as a major pain killer

another drug to send you to major boobage land

a third drug to kill you

I would choose that over laying in a hospital bed for 3 months in terrible pain and agony while piece by piece i was slowly being paralyzed by some terrifying, painful and crippling disease.

[mookiemookie]

I would choose that over laying in a hospital bed for 3 months in terrible pain and agony while piece by piece i was slowly being paralyzed by some terrifying, painful and crippling disease.

Watching people I love go waste away as they died of cancer did it for me. After that, I can't see how anyone would be opposed to dying in peace and serenity on their own terms.

[Feuer Frei!]

I wonder, who will take over the mantle of Dr Death?
I'm sure there'll be someone out there willing to 'publicize' and 'promote shamelessly' the homemade concoctions and machines that will 'assist' people in passing away painlessly.

[GoldenRivet]

I wonder, who will take over the mantle of Dr Death?
I'm sure there'll be someone out there willing to 'publicize' and 'promote shamelessly' the homemade concoctions and machines that will 'assist' people in passing away painlessly.

Your post brings to mind giant mouse traps and self actuated head spikes etc.

is that really what you think Kevorkian was doing? or did you just see some movie and think thats what he was doing? :D

Self administered drugs have been around for a long time, they are used in hospitals and homes by patients every day.

any home made "machine" you might be thinking of is nothing more than a small button one pushes to administer anesthetic which would shortly thereafter be followed by a lethal injection while you sleep in peace.

sounds like a much better deal than wasting away

[NeonSamurai]

Grimm fact of the day: did you know the Roman army surgeons had with them a pick and hammer and after a battle they went around the battlefield looking for wounded, and if they found someone stil lalive but knowing he wont make it, they took that pick and hammer and they would nail it trough his skull just above the neck, effectivly eutanising the soldier and spare him a painfull dying

My understanding was they used a hammer blow to the base of the skull. Same method was used in the arenas on gladiators. A pick doesn't make much sense as it would tend to get stuck in there from suction.

[Feuer Frei!]

Nope, never saw any movies of his.
As far as to what i think and what he actually was doing is pretty much the same thing.
Seems ironic that he didn't assist himself to quietly and painlessly pass away from his ailments.
Not ironic you say (i'm speaking in general here when saying 'you')?
Sure it is.
This whackjob who disguised his practices, for want of a better word in semantics, was very much the advocater in assisting other people to ease their path into another life, yet...
Maybe, just maybe good ole Jack was waiting for miracle cure or something which would allow him to continue on his path of playing God.
Yep, you read that right, playing God.
Another thing.
Assisted suicide is currently legal in the U.S.
Things like Palliative care, comfort measures or Hospice come to mind.
I promised myself not to post in this thread, because i knew i would get sucked in (not anyone's fault) for delivering my opinion on this.
And it's in fact a subject which has already been exhaustively dealt with before here in GT.
I will now recede.