Word: kevorkian
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...after five years of fighting, Gary went looking for one more doctor, the one he had heard about on television and read about in the papers. He followed the case of Janet Adkins and supported both her decision and Dr. Kevorkian's role. Last April, when he finally reached Kevorkian, they spoke very briefly. Kevorkian asked that he write a letter explaining his situation, which Gary did, very, very slowly. I'm able on a computer with one hand and arm to touch one button at a time. I wrote the letter and addressed it. He wrote back...
...letter to Gary, Kevorkian outlined the conditions of his "service." "First, I can help patients only in southeastern Michigan; and you have already stated willingness to travel. Second, the service cannot be performed in any rented facility because of potential legal difficulties. I'm sure you can understand the reason for this. Therefore, I must ask if you have any relative or friends in this area who could make a privately-owned domicile available for your use." He asked for Gary's medical history and for permission to contact his doctor. "I sympathize with your sad situation and wish that...
Over the next weeks they stayed in touch, as Kevorkian helped Gary find a private home to die in. He explained that the Michigan state legislature was moving fast to ban physician-assisted suicide. Gary speeded up his planning, had a psychiatric evaluation and assembled a meeting with family members and their minister to talk through his decision. He had attended a Unitarian church growing up, but has since drifted away from faith. When I think about dying, there's a preparation I have to go through. I've always had a sense that there's an afterlife. When...
Late last month Kevorkian called again. I think his words were something to the effect, "We have to wrap this up. How soon can you be here?" I thought for about 10 or 15 seconds and I said, "One week." Kevorkian assured him that there was still time, that the law would not take effect until next April and that Gary could change his mind. Kevorkian has said he has no intention of obeying the law anyway. Gary meanwhile is taking things day by day. We have now completed everything that Jack asked us to do. They're going...
...Jack Kevorkian has spent much of his medical life searching for ways to make better use of human bodies, especially dead ones. Thirty years ago, as a young pathologist in Pontiac, Michigan, he became the first doctor to transfuse blood directly from a corpse into a live patient. He marveled at the possible uses -- on battlefields, for instance, or during a natural disaster -- and lamented the fact that public distaste for the procedure would probably preclude its clinical acceptance...