Dr. Jack Kevorkian
The Doctor Who Helped End Lives; Dr. Jack Kevorkian
” They Called Him Dr. Death ” – Bizarre Buffet Podcast
Listen to ” They Called Him Dr. Death ” Right Here
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the doctor who helped end lives. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, AKA, Dr. Death! Dr. Kevorkian was a crusader in the Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia movement during his lifetime. His mission had been to legalize ” The right to die“, a controversial topic till this very day that surrounds the discussion of Terminally Ill patients being allowed to choose how they die…if they so wish.
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” They Called Him Dr. Death” – Episode Credits
Hosted By Mark Tauriello , Jen Wilson , & Marc Bluestein .
Original Episode Art By Mark Tauriello
Original Episode Story, Concept, & Production By Marc Bluestein
Released On September 6th, 2021
” They Called Him Dr. Death ” Episode Show Notes
“They Called him Dr. Death”
Dr. Jack Kevorkian
Show Notes
Question for the group
INTRO
This is the story of Dr. Jack Kevorkian and the argument for assisted suicide.
Some of you may be asking “ Who the hell is Jack Kevorkian and what exactly is assisted suicide?”
Who Was Jack Kevorkian?
Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a medical pathologist who helped dozens of terminally ill individuals end their lives, becoming the key figure in a fucking wild national drama surrounding assisted suicide. Kevorkian advocated for patients taking their own lives if they ever reached that point. He argued their decision went beyond any law a government put in place – that it wasn’t legal or illegal, but a personal right.
Hell. The. Fuck. Yeah.!
What Is Assisted Suicide ?
“Assisted Suicide is the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose.”
To quote Dr. Kevorkian
“It’s really the way executions are carried out by lethal injection, except this is self execution”
Dr. Kevorkian Before Assisted Suicide
- Before Kevorkian would become the notoriously known as “Dr. Death”, Kevorkian was looking for work as a licensed Physician with little to no avail. He would subsequently become homeless, living in his car at times and getting by off of his Social Security Benefits all while writing papers and proposals on the benefits of Assisted Suicide.
- Three years out from medical school, Kevorkian grew more and more obsessed with the dead and dying. The Detroit-area hospital where he worked started calling him Dr. Death.
It wasn’t enough that he routinely examined the bodies of patients after they had expired; Kevorkian also advocated for what he called terminal human experimentation. This later became known as assisted suicide.
- As Dr. Jack Kevorkian studied medicine, he became fascinated with the eyes of the dying. In hopes of determining the exact moment they passed, Kevorkian reportedly photographed the eyes of his patients. With this knowledge, he believed he could garner important information about the diseases that took their lives.
- Jack Kevorkian believed doctors could reuse the blood of the dead, and transfuse it into living patients.
After hearing about a similarly controversial Russian experiment, Kevorkian realized if the dead were no longer using their blood then perhaps it could be pumped into those who needed it. He pictured the procedure’s use on a battlefield, where wounded soldiers could not immediately get to a blood bank.
Although Kevorkian successfully simulated his experiment and pitched it to the Pentagon, he failed to earn a federal grant, forcing him to eventually abandon the project.- SIDENOTE: So, just based off of this alone its quite clear that Kevorkian is most definitely an out of the box thinker, most certainly not your traditional Physician, but lets continue!
Interesting Facts About Dr. Kevorkian
- Kevorkian was a jazz musician and composer as well! “ The Kevorkian Suite: A Very Still Life “ was a 1997 limited-release CD of 5,000 copies . It features Kevorkian on the flute and organ playing his own works
- He was also an oil painter. His work tended toward the grotesque and surreal, and he had created pieces of symbolic art, such as one “of a child eating the flesh off a decomposing corpse”.[17] Of his known works, six were made available in the 1990s for print release. The Ariana Gallery in Royal Oak, Michigan is the exclusive distributor of Kevorkian’s artwork.
SIDENOTE: A fun little element worth mentioning, Mark and I recently acquired an art piece by Dr. Kevorkian titled “Nearer My God to Thee”, and it actually came from the daughter of the woman who owned The Ariana Gallery. You can see a video of the piece on our Patreon in the near future, so don’t forger to check that out !
More Information About Dr. Kevorkian
- I suppose the last fact being that Kevorkian not only had a lengthy paper trail from his patients who he had assisted in their suicides, but he also did video documentation / interviews of him with the said patient in question, Primarily for legal purposes I’d imagine. Kevorkian went through great lengths to ensure that his patients were in fact terminally ill, he didn’t accept every person or case that came to him for assistance.
Now, ok, despite your personal beliefs or perspective on Kevorkian or anything in relation to the matter, for the sake of transparency I think its important to state that there have been reported incidents of not all of Kevorkians cases being those who were terminally ill….which is where some of the more salacious elements come into play and quite honestly opens a whole other discussion, so urge you to look deeper into this on your own.
NOTE
Now, just as a reminder, its important to remember the aspect of video documentation, because its going to play a role later in this story
Dr. Kevorkian ” The Suicide Machine “
THE STORY
Now the issue surrounding Dr. Kevorkian and this topic is, what should doctors do when suffering patients want to die ? Well! Dr. Kevorkian believed that it was the patients right to make that choice.
Kevorkian designed what was dubbed “The Suicide Machine” knowing suicide should be done in a quick and painless manner, Dr. Jack Kevorkian devised two machines that could easily be prepared and hooked up to the patient. One was called the Mercitron and the other the Thanatron, with both designed to relive the pain and suffering of the terminally ill.
The Thanatron was devised to inject a series of chemicals into the patient’s body.
This process consisted of three steps: saline injection, followed by a painkiller (thiopental), and finally, a fatal injection of potassium chloride.
This invention led to the construction of Kevorkian’s Mercitron, which took the injections out of the equation, and opted for a faster solution. It was essentially a gas mask hooked to a tank full of carbon monoxide, which the patient inhaled until they expired.
By all accounts it seems as though the thought process behind the design of these devices was more or less “I don’t want to be charged with murder by assisting those who wish die“, and what I mean by that, is that the machine itself was designed for the patient themselves to initiate the process of ending their own lives, as the machine was equipped with a button that would require said individual to press that button on their own, or to put it more charmingly “Pass themselves away”
Now lets move this euthanasia machine a long shall we !?
Dr. Kevorkians First Patient – Janet Adkins
- Kevorkians first patient was Janet Adkins. Janet was a 54 year old English teacher from Portland who was suffering from Alzheimers disease. Kevorkian had been trying to figure outwhere he could perform his assisted suicides, and reluctantly used his very own bus as all other options seemed to have been exhausted.
- NOTE
( Dr. Kevorkian and his team had to get creative in terms of their locations where the assisted suicides would take place, locations ranged from motels, homes, his Volkswagon bus, etc)
As quoted by a dear friend of Adkins, Caroll Rehmke, from an article published by oregonlive.com
“ My friend Janet was 54 when she said to me “My body is a body of a 20 year old and my mind is gone.” That was it for her, the Alzheimers was moving in on her” she said.
Caroll Rehmke also stated that “Kevorkian was considered a hero by a lot of people”.
NOTE
It’s important to keep in mind that there is lots of documentation from the families of those Dr. Kevorkian assisted who view him quite favorably and are seemingly advocates for assisted suicide.
Dr. Kevorkian – Legal Battles
Now, despite what is one person who’s trying to provide a service to the sick and dying who wish to end their personal suffering, which Dr. Kevorkian believed should in fact be our fucking right…and that’ll most likely always be a topic/issue filled with controversy and legal battles……
It wouldn’t take long for Dr. Kevorkian to receive his first charge of First Degree Murder… I’m sure everyone is shocked to hear that!!! However, Kevorkians lawyer Geff Feiger presented this argument:
“ Michigan has laws against murder, its illegal to kill yourself, but theres nothing against assisted suicide.”
In turn the charge of First Degree Murder against Kevorkian was dropped.
Kevorkian was tried four times in total for assisting suicides between May 1994, and June 1997. Dr. Kevorkian was acquitted three times, and his fourth court trial ended in a mistrial.
MIND YOU! This did not deter Dr. Kevorkian from continuing his mission of physician assisted suicide…….this dude decided to turn up the volume and rip the knob off, or crank up the suicide machine, whichever you prefer.
Dr. Kevorkian & The Controversial 60 Minutes Interview
PICTURE IT WITH ME NOW!!
Its November 22nd, 1998!
Kevorkian allows the CBS News’ program 60 Minutes to air a video he had made almost two months prior on September 17, 1998.
The video itself depicts Dr. Kevorkian doing a pretty fucking wild thing…..euthanizing someone! Now you might be thinking “ Well, what the HELL is the difference between the assisted suicide he was doing before and what he’s doing in this video?”
The difference between Kevorkian’s regular method of assisted suicide contained its share of loopholes. While it wasn’t exactly “legal” it wasn’t exactly “illegal” either. ( Remember the Mercitron and Thanatron machines that required the patient to physically start the machine?) A very important item to take note of is that while those machines were made by Kevorkian and provided for the process of assisted suicide, it was still the ultimate choice of the patients to carry the process through to initiate the chemical flow by the hit of a button.
In regards to the 60 minutes episode, Kevorkian had to be the one to carry out the eutahnization process, due to the patients illness not allowing him very much of any mobility function to initiate the process on his own.
The Video
LETS TALK ABOUT THE VIDEO
Thomas Youk was a 52 year old man who was in the final stages of Lou Gehrigs disease. Thomas gave what is called informed consent.
informed consent is essentially a process for getting permission before conducting a healthcare intervention on an individual.
The video depicts Dr. Kevorkian and his patient Thomas Youk essentially discussing what is to transpire, ensuring that Thomas has full awareness and is in full agreement, thus permitting Kevorkian to commence the euthinization process. The video shows the process and ultimately ends with Kevorkian confirming his death on film.
Heres an audio clip from that interaction
AUDIO INSERT HERE
Kevorkian then proceeded to essentially taunt the legal system by being like “Hey man, I dare you to try and convict me or stop me from doing mercy killings, don’t fuck with my flow…..my suicide machine flow”
He was busy doing hot girl shit, cant stop now!
Everything about this particular incident was entirely fucking risky, as was everything he did, but this one particularly. Kevorkian had gotten by in the past with simply “assisting suicides”, but now he’s making an even larger statement by performing a euthinization, and the small added detail of giving the video to 60 Minutes.
The family of Thomas Youks described the lethal injection as humane, not murder.
The Trial
Now, lets get into the trial regarding this case.
On March 26, 1999 a jury began deliberations in the first degree murder trial of Dr. Kevorkian.
After two days of deliberations the jury found Kevorkian guilty of second-degree homicide.
Judge Jessica Cooper sentenced Kevorkian to serve 10-25 years in prison. I’m not gonna bore you with the whole statement she gave, however in her statement she said the following notable statement:
“ The law prohibiting euthanasia was specifically reviewed and clarified by the Michigan Supreme Court several years ago in a decision involving your very own cases, sir. So the charge here should come as no surprise to you .”
Dr. Kevorkian – Sentencing
Kevorkian would be paroled for good behavior on June 1st, 2007, he served eight years and two and a half months in prison.
The conditions of his parole were that he would not help anyone else die, or provide care for anyone older than 62 or disabled.
It is noted that Kevorkian assisted in at least 133 assisted suicides.
The Final Chapter / Life After Prison For Jack Kevorkian
ENDING
Life after prison for Jack Kevorkian:
Kevorkian gave a number of lectures upon his release. He lectured at universities such as the University of Florida,[49]Nova Southeastern University,[50] and the University of California, Los Angeles.[51] His lectures were not limited to the topic of euthanasia.
On March 12, 2008, Kevorkian announced plans to run for United States Congress to represent Michigan’s 9th congressional district as an independent
Ultimately, Kevorkian lost but received 8,987 votes (2.6% of the vote)
You Don’t Know Jack
You Don’t Know Jack, a film based on Kevorkian’s life, premiered April 24, 2010, on HBO.[54] The film premiered April 14 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City. Kevorkian walked the red carpet alongside Al Pacino, who portrayed him in the film.[55] Pacino received Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his portrayal and personally thanked Kevorkian, who was in the audience, upon receiving both of these awards. Kevorkian stated that the film “brings tears to my eyes – and I lived through it”.[56]
Death
Kevorkian passed away on June 3rd, 2011 at the age of 83….and I know what you’re probably thinking! And, no! He died in a very conventional way, no suicide machine in sight!
Despite all of the controversy surrounding Dr. Kevorkian and the “Right to Die “ movement, there will always be people who sit on both sides of the fence. For as many accolades that he has, there will be a billion more negatives associated with him, and the topic in general.
Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian’s lawyer during the 1990s, gave a speech at a press conference in which he stated: “Dr. Jack Kevorkian didn’t seek out history, but he made history.”[63] Kevorkian revolutionized the concept of suicide by working to help people end their own suffering, because he believed physicians are responsible for alleviating the suffering of patients, even if that meant allowing patients to die.[63
The epitaph on Kevorkian’s tombstone reads, “He sacrificed himself for everyone’s rights.”
Find Out More About Dr. Jack Kevorkian
*Reference Articles & Sources for this episode*
The two audio clips featured in this episode are from the 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace & Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Produced by Bob Anderson. Link below.
60 Minutes Interview with Mike Wallace & Dr. Kevorkian
12 Facts You Didn’t Know About Jack Kevorkian on Ranker
Dr. Jack Kevorkian Dies at 83 NY Times
Washington Woman Who Witnessed Jack Kevorkians First Assisted Suicide The Oregonian
Angel of Death: The Trial of the Suicide Doctor (Vanity Fair)
You Don’t Know Jack Movie Trailer
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