Tue, Jun 05, 2007 - Page 16 News List

Dr Death is back in town

Jack Kevorkian, whose name has become synonymous with assisted suicide, has been released from prison, unrepentant and still held in high esteem by many

AP , COLDWATER, MICHIGAN

Kevorkian, who will be on parole until June 1, 2009, cannot help anyone else die and is forbidden to provide care for anyone older than 62 or who is disabled.

He has promised to comply, but Ruth Holmes, who has worked as his legal assistant and handled his correspondence while he was in prison, said his views on assisted suicide have not changed.

"This should be a matter that is handled as a fundamental human right that is between the patient, the doctor, his family and his God," Holmes said of Kevorkian's beliefs.

"He's on a short leash for the next two years," said Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian's former attorney. "They can pretty much control his behavior. After that, it will be another story."

Fieger said once he's off parole, Kevorkian should continue assisting people who want to commit suicide.

Fieger said Kevorkian's fame will only continue to spread.

"When the people who ... sentenced him to prison are dead, they'll be forgotten the next minute. Jack Kevorkian will be remembered for hundreds of years," Fieger said. "History will consider him a hero."

Assisted suicide opponents have stymied most efforts to pass laws allowing the practice, leaving Oregon the only state to allow physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.

An AP-Ipsos poll conducted last month, however, found that 53 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed nationwide thought Kevorkian should not have been jailed, while 40 percent supported his imprisonment.

Sixty-eight percent said there are circumstances when a patient should be allowed to die.

Kevorkian can speak about assisted suicide, but cannot put out anything that shows how to make a device like the machine he devised to give lethal drugs, according to his parole order.

Kevorkian suffers from a variety of ailments including diabetes, hepatitis C, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries in his brain. He will see his internist and a dentist, as well as some specialists, Morganroth said.

Kevorkian did not have much to take with him from prison, in part because many of his possessions were missing. Morganroth said a manuscript and other belongings were stolen last month. He suspected someone took Kevorkian's clothes and medicine to sell on eBay.

Holmes, a close friend of Kevorkian's, said he will want to enjoy some of the things he could not freely get in prison such as a sandwich of plain sliced turkey on thin lavash bread.

"He's looking forward to some grapes and apricots," she said.

This story has been viewed 2214 times.
TOP top