Jack Kevorkian

[Mookie Lugubrious]

Mitch Albom, the acclaimed journalist and fiction writer did an op ed interview with Jack Kevorkian and found him to be among the most bitter dried up and cold and heartless humans on this side of the Great Divide.

Well, anyway. I'm not allowed to post external links, so I guess you all have to look for him yourself. He's out of prison now, so he'll be easier to find.

[Saddiction]

I can respect what he did to his patients. I think that assisted suicide should not be punishable by law if it is used within reason.

Euthanasia should be an accessible option. Instead people have no choice but to suffer until they finally succumb to their illness or injury.

Why do we put down animals? Because 'it's the humane thing to do'.

[Mookie Lugubrious]

I agree with you completely, but what ends up happening is that the attatchments of the family interfere with what is clearly the right thing to do, and if it isn't the family who in my opinion selfishly sustains a false hope of recovery, its the religious whose notion of heaven has done nothing to dissolve their fear of death.

[Delicate_Torture]

As someone who actually works in palliative care I would like to point out that you are both over-simplifying the situation a LOT. There are so many more scenarios and factors that you haven't taken into account, and these things are often the reasons that euthanasia (or assisted suicide) is illegal.

Don't assume that death means suffering, and don't assume that the dying want to miss out on the process that they are to go through.

[Saddiction]

I'm not assuming that death means suffering in all cases, but in some that is the case, for example, my uncle.

I basically watched him waste away in his short 3 month chemo/radiation therapy to treat brain cancer (which metastasized to his liver). There was so much radiation that his mouth was one big canker sore. He was constantly nauseated in result of the chemo therapy, and resembled a corpse the last time I saw him. He had no hair, he lost a lot of body weight, and he was white as a ghost.

His last 3 months of life had been the most painful that he had ever endured throughout his lifetime. He was in his 50's. As I mentioned before, I think that assisted suicide should be considered an option within reason. I know deep down if he was given the choice, he would have taken the needle rather than endure the pain and sickness until his very last breath.

Death is inevitable, however, I can assure you that this is a process he most definately did NOT want to go through. At least not like that. There is a difference between passing away peacefully, and living your last moments in complete utter pain and misery.

If the terminally ill begs for death, why not provide them with the option? Surely, if he (my uncle) was able to do the deed himeself, he would have.

[Extraordinary]

Kevorkian is super gothic because his nickname is "DR. DEATH."

[Saphyra Runa]

I watched his interview on 60 Minutes, what was it, two weeks ago, and I found Dr. Kevorkian to be a very interesting, very intelligent man.

It's the last part of the interview that I found most interesting.

While he was in prison, three states voted on whether to legalize assisted suicide. All three states voted no; Oregon is still the only state that permits it.

"Oregon’s assisted suicide law has been in effect ten years. Fewer than 300 people have committed suicide under that law," Wallace says. "Are you surprised the number’s so low?"

"No," Kevorkian says. "Many people once they know they can do this, the panic dissipates from their mind. They now have control. Which they didn’t before. And they tolerate the pain much better."

"Treatment for pain has vastly improved. Has that reduced the need for assisted suicide?" Wallace asks.

"That's one advantage of the campaign. It forced doctors to do that," Kevorkian says.

"Why does euthanasia have to be legal? It’s an open secret that every day, all across the country, doctors end the suffering of the terminally ill," Wallace remarks. "Patients who want their death hastened usually by increasing their morphine."

"Right," Kevorkian says.

"They don’t call it death by doctor, but that’s what it is," Wallace remarks.

"There's where the law creates immorality in medicine. Any act, medical act should never be done in an atmosphere of fear and concern and secrecy," Kevorkian says. "Doctors now are sneaking around and doing it."

"If you make death by a doctor legal, would you be making suicide too easy for people who are depressed, who should be getting treatment instead?" Wallace asks.

"That’s a medical thing," Kevorkian says. "The doctors will determine is this genuine or not. Is this depression or not? Who else but doctors know what depression is? They can tell."

You can read or watch the entire interview HERE

[demonfairy]

Originally Posted by Delicate_Torture

As someone who actually works in palliative care I would like to point out that you are both over-simplifying the situation a LOT. There are so many more scenarios and factors that you haven't taken into account, and these things are often the reasons that euthanasia (or assisted suicide) is illegal.

Don't assume that death means suffering, and don't assume that the dying want to miss out on the process that they are to go through.

I would agree with you that death doesn't mean suffering especially if there is a good palliative care plan in pace.Sadly this isn't always offered as an option in the public hospital system,and families trying to make the right decision for their relatives,aren't given information on 'comfort care'.

[Drake Dun]

I am sympathetic to the man's politics, but he sure is a joyless personality. Obviously he is angry over the fact that he was imprisoned for several years even though he did nothing wrong, but you can tell it goes beyond that. The way he talks about life not being happy... it's not just that he hasn't been happy himself, or has noticed that most people aren't. You can tell he is opposed in principle to the idea of finding happiness in life, and vaguely resents anyone who is still trying to.

Drake

[Saddiction]

Originally Posted by demonfairy

I would agree with you that death doesn't mean suffering especially if there is a good palliative care plan in pace.Sadly this isn't always offered as an option in the public hospital system,and families trying to make the right decision for their relatives,aren't given information on 'comfort care'.

Unless of course people don't make it to palliative care.

[Saddiction]

Originally Posted by Saddiction

Unless of course people don't make it to palliative care.

To emphasize that statement, I don't mean that the option isn't offered. I mean that some people are just too sick and die during the treatment process, and yes, some people can't afford to place relatives in palliative care due to whatever health system they are a part of.

[demonfairy]

I actually live in a different country to you and our health care system is different to yours.My mother was able to access hospice care as a public patient,without paying anything.Because I am a nurse I knew where to look for help.I don't know if it would have been as easy for someone outside the industry to find the information though,a lot of our clients relatives don't know anything about palliative care.

[LoVe]

Originally Posted by Saphyra Runa

I watched his interview on 60 Minutes, what was it, two weeks ago, and I found Dr. Kevorkian to be a very interesting, very intelligent man.

Thank you I just watched it and agree he is very interest and very intelligent.

I think assisted suicides should be an option in some cases. It is what cases that seems like the hard thing to determine. I watched my father die slowly from cancer. I wish he at least had the option, even if he would not have done it.

[Mookie Lugubrious]

The Albom interview must have taken place before Wallaces'. If Jack Kevorkian lives up to his political rebellion he should aspire to make these ideas more palatable to the sensibilities of peoples feelings. No activist group wants Kevorkian's 'stink and rot' theory tinging the compassionate nature of the cause. And remember, Albom's interview was an editorial, and an extremely reductive one at that. No doubt Albom felt the same way of Kevorkian's 'stink and rot' sermon.

[Crying_Crimson_Tears]

Originally Posted by Saddiction

I can respect what he did to his patients. I think that assisted suicide should not be punishable by law if it is used within reason.

Euthanasia should be an accessible option. Instead people have no choice but to suffer until they finally succumb to their illness or injury.

Why do we put down animals? Because 'it's the humane thing to do'.

I completely agree. If someone makes a video or leaves a note saying that they would rather die then live a painful life, then euthanasia should be accepted. But if someone does not leave a video or something then it should illegal, because then you don't really know if they did want to die or not.

[Arkham Asylum]

It is too bad he was forced to stop by the government. I really liked hearing about him on sixty minutes every week.

[demonfairy]

One of our states (Northern Territory,Australia) actually passed legislature,at a state level,to legalise euthanasia,but it was very rapidly revoked.