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Dr. Kevorkian dies


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http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/306030011/Dr-Jack-Kevorkian-dies

 

Dr. Jack Kevorkian — embraced as a compassionate crusader and reviled as a murderous crank — died early this morning.Known as Dr. Death even before launching his fierce advocacy and practice of assisted suicides, Kevorkian, 83, died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where he had been hospitalized with kidney and heart problems.

His attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said it appears Kevorkian suffered a pulmonary thrombosis when a blood clot from his leg broke free and lodged in his heart. With Kevorkian was his niece Ava Janus and Morganroth.

“It was peaceful, he didn’t feel a thing,” Morganroth said.

Morganroth said there were no artificial attempts to keep Kevorkian alive and no plans for a memorial.

Kevorkian was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder and served eight years of prison time.

Kevorkian was hospitalized twice in May because of kidney problems and a fall. Additionally he suffered from an array of ailments including liver and heart disorders. He underwent hernia surgery in February. 2005.

He admitted being present at about 130 suicides and his hectoring defiance of established laws and protocols forced reexamination of personal freedoms in medical treatments and end-of-life decisions.

Since his first acknowledged assisted suicide in 1990, authorities had tried to rein in Kevorkian as the toll of his clients soared. He was charged four times with murder only to have three juries acquit him and one case collapse in mistrial.

That streak of courtroom triumphs ended with the 1998 death of Thomas Youk, 52, of Waterford, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease.

In a self-inflicted triple injury, Kevorkian videotaped himself injecting Youk, had it broadcast on “60 Minutes,” and then acted as his own lawyer in the ensuing Oakland County murder trial.

Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and drew a 10-25-year prison term at his 1999 sentencing. He was released in 2005 and discharged from parole in 2009.

His post-prison career included a 2008 congressional bid and a cable television bio-pic starring Al Pacino.

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good riddance... I'm the farthest from religious as you can get, but I feel that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bleak the outcome is... Those last days / weeks of ur life are for the family more than you at that point... NEVER give that time up.
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good riddance... I'm the farthest from religious as you can get, but I feel that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bleak the outcome is... Those last days / weeks of ur life are for the family more than you at that point... NEVER give that time up.

 

What if you've already said all of your good-byes, and now that family is just watching you live in crippling pain everyday?

 

I don't really have a "side" on this one, but if I woke up and was in agony all day, every day, I would consider putting myself out of my own misery.

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good riddance... I'm the farthest from religious as you can get, but I feel that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bleak the outcome is... Those last days / weeks of ur life are for the family more than you at that point... NEVER give that time up.

 

As cruel as it is many of the family don't want to watch you suffer those last few weeks. Myself I would rather see someone die with a shred of dignity. It is kind of like when you put a pet down to end their suffering. At a certain point in some peoples lifes I wouldn't consider it suicide. If you have never had to bedside with someone who is in such terrible condition that they are in nothing but pain, don't know who they or you are, and have nothing to do but lay there and starve to death or wait for the rest of their body to fail, I hope you never do. I would also have to ask you, how do you feel about people pulling the plug? The only difference between that and what Kevorkian did is, the person dieing makes the decision instead of a family member.

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good riddance... I'm the farthest from religious as you can get, but I feel that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bleak the outcome is... Those last days / weeks of ur life are for the family more than you at that point... NEVER give that time up.

 

That's pretty selfish of yourself, suicide is never the answer for anything curable. Have you ever had anyone who has suffered through intense pain for weeks until an inevitable death? It's not the kind of thing you want to sit and watch as someone you love is just deteriorating away. Do you want to just leave your dying dog on the living room floor for days while it'd decaying from the inside? No, no one does that, they have it put down. It's honestly not a single bit different.

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good riddance... I'm the farthest from religious as you can get, but I feel that suicide is never the answer, no matter how bleak the outcome is... Those last days / weeks of ur life are for the family more than you at that point... NEVER give that time up.

 

Come spend a day at the hospital with me. You'll change your mind.

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As cruel as it is many of the family don't want to watch you suffer those last few weeks. Myself I would rather see someone die with a shred of dignity. It is kind of like when you put a pet down to end their suffering. At a certain point in some peoples lifes I wouldn't consider it suicide. If you have never had to bedside with someone who is in such terrible condition that they are in nothing but pain, don't know who they or you are, and have nothing to do but lay there and starve to death or wait for the rest of their body to fail, I hope you never do. I would also have to ask you, how do you feel about people pulling the plug? The only difference between that and what Kevorkian did is, the person dieing makes the decision instead of a family member.

I have watched people die, it sucks but I also would not give up that time.... As far as pulling the plug only time I agree is if they are brain dead

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That's pretty selfish of yourself, suicide is never the answer for anything curable. Have you ever had anyone who has suffered through intense pain for weeks until an inevitable death? It's not the kind of thing you want to sit and watch as someone you love is just deteriorating away. Do you want to just leave your dying dog on the living room floor for days while it'd decaying from the inside? No, no one does that, they have it put down. It's honestly not a single bit different.

Selfish or not you can never get that time back

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Selfish or not you can never get that time back

 

 

I can definitely see where you're coming from, and your heart is totally in the right place. I just can't agree with you on several levels.

 

Though as it pertains to "time you can never get back", it could also just as easily be "time you wished you had never seen come to pass". I certainly don't think any one, two, or how many other lines of reasoning need be applied to a patient beyond their own cognizant wishes.

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I watched my grandmom suffer and die when she came at our house to 'live her life out' after being discharged from the Hospital.

 

She was suffering. She had lived through all her friends dying, 2 husbands dying, and much more. If their was a way we could of pulled the plug to make her go faster and with more peace, we would of done it.

 

Instead we watched her cry and moan her last days on Earth. She was 95, she had more then lived her life, more so then most people do these days. But those last few hours were the worst thing I had ever seen. I don't wish that on anyone.

 

I wish we could have ended it.

Edited by Seebs
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My father-in-law lost the circulatory system to his kidneys and bowel. My grandfather had bone cancer and laid in a bed for 2 months, incoherent and mostly unresponsive. Both of these men died slowly, painfully, and with all of us watching. We knew the end would come. I do not want to be surrounded by family while I waste away with toxins circulating my body, I want them to say goodbye and remember me every now and then. I respect everyone's choice in how they want to go but I don't see the point in suffering forever.

 

In his later years Jack taught us to read the constitution and pay attention to our rights. You have a right to do whatever it is you want to do, so long as you aren't bothering anyone.

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