Dr. Death is free

[MTK]

AHN | "Dr. Death" Released From Jail After More Than Eight Years | June 1, 2007

Jack Kevorkian, the former Michigan-based pathologist and the purported public advocate of terminal patients' right to die, was released from prison Friday more than eight years after he was convicted in the assisted suicide-murder of Thomas Youk of Oakland County, Michigan. The 79-year-old, nicknamed "Doctor Death" by some, was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to a maximum 10 to 25 year sentence, however he earned time off his sentence for good behavior.

[hesscl34]

I watched a program once about when he would kill people. He taped it. It was so weird... strange and VERY disturbing. Most of the people he was killing were completely lucid and very aware, with there families watchig... it just freaked me out!

[MTK]

Why is it ok to put animals to sleep, but not a person who is chronically ill and it's their own wish to die??

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Why is it ok to put animals to sleep, but not a person who is chronically ill and it's their own wish to die??

whats funny is he helps people that want to die. go sell some crack, and you would do less time in prison. thats messed up

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by dmek25

whats funny is he helps people that want to die. go sell some crack, and you would do less time in prison. thats messed up

He was warned by a judge or court not to assist in any more deaths but he went anyways and did it again. Thats what really got him into trouble.

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Why is it ok to put animals to sleep, but not a person who is chronically ill and it's their own wish to die??

Why is it okay to strap an ox to a plow and make him pull the thing around all day in the hot sun?

If someone wants to die, then they should nut up and do it themselves. Don't drag other people into it. Of course, I don't think it took too much dragging with Dr. K. He strikes me as a bit of a ghoul.

[hesscl34]

If we start thinking that way, then every time someone gets sick you might as well give them a prescription of sleeping pills and tell them to end it whenever they so choose. If you are going to higher a doc to do it, you are only separating yourself from the responsibility of taking your own life, and in doing so hoping in some way to justify it to your loved ones and others. Anyway you look at it, it’s taking a life before it was time to go.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by hesscl34

If we start thinking that way, then every time someone gets sick you might as well give them a prescription of sleeping pills and tell them to end it whenever they so choose. If you are going to higher a doc to do it, you are only separating yourself from the responsibility of taking your own life, and in doing so hoping in some way to justify it to your loved ones and others. Anyway you look at it, it’s taking a life before it was time to go.

If you're terminally ill I think it should be your choice to end your own life.

After all, it's your life, right?

[Hog1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

If you're terminally ill I think it should be your choice to end your own life.

After all, it's your life, right?

Many terminally ill people die a .............bad death...very painful and protracted.
Dr. D performed a valuable service to people who did not want to deal with that. The law should not interfere with that.

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

If you're terminally ill I think it should be your choice to end your own life.

After all, it's your life, right?

By definition it is their choice. No one can stop a person from committing suicide. The problem is dragging medicine into the process which is a slippery slope towards soylent green, etc. If doctors start ending life regularly they might take it upon themselves to start making the decisions. Or the government might start doing cost analysis and so forth.

The other thing is that I think Doctors have been known to prescribe medication for a terminal patient in a kind of informal way. I suspect Jackie O. went that way. The whole family marches in to say goodbye and the next morning she's gone? Maybe she was just fortunate. Kevorkian actually makes that more difficult because he is such a camera-hog and a ghoul. Taping the deaths and using that ridiculous machine. It stirs up things in an unhelpful way.

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

If you're terminally ill I think it should be your choice to end your own life.

After all, it's your life, right?

I agree, if you are "terminally ill" it should be your choice.

What is the difference between being put on life support and NOT wanting to be.....? Hopefully if you had a living will and stated you did not want to live like that.

Your loved ones could make a descission to pull the plug.

[hesscl34]

oh, and the difference between animals and humans? Humans have free will.

[MTK]

Is attempting suicide illegal?

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Is attempting suicide illegal?

Good question. The libertarian in me says its shouldn't be. But what if you had a Closeau-like figure who consistently failed to finish the job? The rope breaks. The car in the garage runs out of gas. A truck full of pillows drives under the building at exactly the right (wrong) moment. It could cost a fortune in health care.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Is attempting suicide illegal?

Based on the current laws in place, yes it is. You will almost certainly lose your freedom if you fail and are caught. Apparently it isn't in Japan though.