1990
The debut of Dr Death
Jacob “Jack” Kevorkian (1928-2011) was a Michigan pathologist who advanced several ideas about dying and who came to public notice for illegally assisting in patient suicides.
As a pathologist Kevorkian’s work was with the dead, leading him to propose that the blood from corpses be used in military intravenous supplies, that condemned prisoners could submit to dangerous experiments in lieu of execution, and that the organs of dead prisoners be harvested for transplant. These ideas won little favour with the authorities but did get Kevorkian the beginnings of an unsavoury reputation.
In 1990, on a 58-year old woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, he conducted the first of an estimated 130 procedures in which he provided the means by which those seeking death could commit suicide. These people were dispatched by either the “Thantron” (“Death Machine”) which dispensed lethal drugs or the “Mercitron” (“Mercy Machine”) which administered carbon monoxide poisoning. Since there was at the time no law against assisting suicide, Kevorkian could not be charged with any crime but he did lose his medical license. Undeterred by four trials from 1994-97, he continued his mission and was not successfully prosecuted.
However, in 1998 he publicly ended the life of an ALS sufferer in a television documentary and this time administered the killing drug himself. He dared the state to prosecute him, and Michigan obliged, charging with with second-degree murder and possession of a controlled drug. Kevorkian defended himself rather badly and was found guilty, with a sentence of 10-25 years in prison. He served 8 of those years before his release in 2007.
A highly controversial figure, Kevorkian succeeded in bringing the issue of assisted dying into greater public prominence.