Dr. Kevorkian dead at age 83

[AnotherKD]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_kevorkian

"DETROIT – Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who captured the world's attention as he helped dozens of ailing people commit suicide, igniting intense debate and ending up in prison for murder, has died in a Detroit area hospital after a short illness. He was 83.
Kevorkian, who said he helped some 130 people end their lives from 1990 to 1999, died about 2:30 a.m. at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, close friend and prominent attorney Mayer Morganroth said. He had been hospitalized since last month with pneumonia and kidney problems."

ETA: I don't know. If I ever become afflicted with a horrible disease like Lou Gherig's or am a vegetable of some sort, I would wish that someone like him would be available to help me. But that's just me.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

[URL]

ETA: I don't know. If I ever become afflicted with a horrible disease like Lou Gherig's or am a vegetable of some sort, I would wish that someone like him would be available to help me. But that's just me.

If you read up on him, the problem is not that he advocated one's right to die. The problem is that he repeatedly violated his own stated procedures for doing doctor-assisted suicide in an ethical manner. Not all of his patients were terminal, few were evaluated by a psychiatrist, many had chronic pain, but were not first referred to a pain specialist, etc.

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

If you read up on him, the problem is not that he advocated one's right to die. The problem is that he repeatedly violated his own stated procedures for doing doctor-assisted suicide in an ethical manner. Not all of his patients were terminal, few were evaluated by a psychiatrist, many had chronic pain, but were not first referred to a pain specialist, etc.

True. However, he really did spark the assisted suicide debate, and it's still raging. I do believe in a person's choice to do what they wish, and if the choice of getting someone to help me when I believed that there was no other way, then that is my belief.

[thetaj]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

ETA: I don't know. If I ever become afflicted with a horrible disease like Lou Gherig's or am a vegetable of some sort, I would wish that someone like him would be available to help me. But that's just me.

If I ever get a disease like Lou Gherig's, I hope that I can stay strong (in mind) enough to enjoy every last minute with my family and friends. I don't think I'd want to take the "easy" way out. I don't know, I really don't, I can't even begin to put myself in those shoes.

I would want to be let go if I were in a state a vegetation. But that's what living wills and advance health care directives are for.

I guess I'm not against doctor-assisted suicide. People should be able to do what they want. But there would be such a huge potential for abuse if it were legalized. I personally think the risks of legalizing it outweigh the benefits.

[Splash]

I definitely think people should have the right to pull the plugs on themselves if they want to. I personally would never elect to. However, I think this should be in a written living will prior to the diagnosis/hospitalization of the ailment. It is difficult to make an unbiased decision of what you "really want" when you're in the hospital for months in terrible pain.

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by Splash

I definitely think people should have the right to pull the plugs on themselves if they want to. I personally would never elect to. However, I think this should be in a written living will prior to the diagnosis/hospitalization of the ailment. It is difficult to make an unbiased decision of what you "really want" when you're in the hospital for months in terrible pain.

Yeah, and I've got all of that spelled out in my living will. However, this is what I think would happen to me (if I really did become that ill). I could sit here and think, yeah, I could get though it, I'd have my family and get pain meds and I could be strong enough. But then I'd be in such a position later in life where I got sick/was paralyzed/was a vegetable, and I would think..... well, shit. I didn't think it'd be THIS bad. Nevermind, I changed my mind! Would that really be an "unbiased decision" of what I really wanted then? But yeah, I do agree with you, that it's a really fine line with being so fed up with the quality of life that you have versus the pain or whatever else actually making you not quite all there in the mind.

[aggieAXO]

I am all for assisted suicide-whether it is for a terminal condition or chronic pain or whatever else has lead me to that decision. It is my life-I should be able to end it. Euthanasia="good death"

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by thetaj

I guess I'm not against doctor-assisted suicide. People should be able to do what they want. But there would be such a huge potential for abuse if it were legalized. I personally think the risks of legalizing it outweigh the benefits.

It's already legal in Oregon and Washington. It's not used nearly as much as you might think, and there are several steps one must take in order to receive a prescription from the doctor. I am happy we legalized it.

ETA: legal in Montana, too.

EATA: from Wikipedia, on the steps one must take in Oregon and Washington to obtain a prescription:

The Oregon Death with Dignity Act, and the Washington statute modeled after it, set certain requirements and safeguards before a person may commit suicide with a doctor's assistance. The patient must be of sound mind when they request a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. Two doctors must confirm a diagnosis of terminal illness with no more than six months to live. Two witnesses, one non-doctor unrelated to the patient, must confirm the patient's request, and the patient must make a second request after 15 days.

According to this article from the New York Times, only 36 people took advantage of the law in Washington in its first year. I seem to recall reading that it didn't increase massively in the second year, either.