Dr. Jack Kevorkian Death

Jack Kevorkian, also known by the nickname "Dr. Death" for his passionate crusade in support of assisted suicide for the terminally ill, died early Friday morning at a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., reports The Detroit Free Press.

Kevorkian was 83 years old and had recently been diagnosed with liver cancer and was hospitalized when a blood clot lodged in his heart and  caused a pulmonary thrombosis. He suffered from kidney ailments as well. He was not placed on life support.

Over the course of his long career as a pathologist, Jack Kevorkian assisted 130 terminally ill patients in their deaths during the 1990s. He was controversial long before he became world-renowned, and was given the name "Dr. Death" early on. The authorities tried to curb him as the death toll increased: He was charged with murder four times; three of the juries acquitted him, and the last court case ended in a mistrial.

In 1998, a videotape of Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to terminally ill Thomas Youk, 52, was broadcast on 60 Minutes and caused a worldwide uproar. Kevorkian again was charged with murder. He acted as his own attorney in the trial and was convicted of second degree murder, garnering a 10-25-year prison term. Kevorkian was released from prison in 2005 and his medical license had long been revoked.

The conversation that erupted around Kevorkian's actions has been widespread and long-lasting. Should terminally ill patients or patients living with chronic pain have the right to end it all, if that is their choice? Seen by some as a murderer and by others as an angel of mercy, Kevorkian felt that it was a person's right to choose their time of death.

In a post about his death on iVillage's Facebook page, comments flooded in. "He was a man willing to bend the law to assist suffering people ... I think he will be at God's gate," wrote one reader. Added another: "If anyone has watched a loved one suffer from a terminal illness you can understand why that someone would want to have Dr. Kevorkian assist and stop their pain."

In 2010, Al Pacino won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Kevorkian in the HBO biopic You Don't Know Jack. Kevorkian himself was present at the screenings and the premiere, and apparently said, when he saw a picture of Pacino playing the role, “Where did they get that picture of me?”

Present at Kevorkian's death was his attorney, Mayer Morganroth, and his niece, Ava Janus. Morganroth told the Free Press: "It was peaceful. He didn’t feel a thing."

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/dr-jack-kevorkian-death/1-a-355288

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