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(CNN) — Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist who put assisted suicide on the world’s medical ethics stage, died early Friday, according to a spokesman with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. He was 83. The assisted-suicide advocate had been hospitalized for pneumonia and a kidney-related ailment, his attorney had said. He had struggled with kidney problems for years and had checked into a hospital earlier this month for similar problems, his lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, said. He checked back into the hospital in the Detroit suburb on May 18 after suffering a relapse, Morganroth said. Kevorkian, dubbed “Dr.
Death,” made national headlines as a supporter of physician-assisted suicide and “right-to-die” legislation. He was charged with murder numerous times through the 1990s for helping terminally ill patients take their own lives. He was convicted on second-degree murder charges in 1999 stemming from the death of a patient who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was paroled in 2007. After his release, he said he would not help end any more lives. Morganroth told CNN Friday that he was summoned to the hospital Thursday night, with doctors telling him “the end was near” for Kevorkian. 998 video sparked criminal case against Kevorkian “The doctors and nurses were extremely supportive,” Morganroth said. They played music by Kevorkian’s favorite composer — Bach — in his room, and Kevorkian died about 2:30 a. m. , Morganroth said. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who was Kervorkian’s lawyer on several assisted-suicide cases, described Kevorkian as a “historic man. ” “He simply felt that it was the duty of every physician to alleviate suffering, and when the circumstance was such that there was no alternative, to help that patient to end their own suffering,” Fieger said in a statement.
In an interview with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta last year, Kevorkian said he had no regrets about his work. “No, no. It’s your purpose (as a) physician. How can you regret helping a suffering patient? ” he said. Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Kevorkian: Rest in peace In that interview, Kevorkian said that he had three missions in life and that he himself was not ready to die. One of his missions was to warn mankind of “impending doom” that will come from the culture of overabundance. “I’m not going to be too popular for that one,” he said.
His second mission was to educate people about assisted suicide, and his belief that in states where assisted suicide has been legalized, it is not being done right. He believed that people shouldn’t have to have a terminal condition in order to qualify for help in ending their own lives. Kevorkian’s third stated mission was to convince Americans that their rights are being infringed upon by bans on everything from smoking to assisted suicide. In 2008, at the age of 80, he failed in a run for Congress in Michigan. 01:11 AM ET
Assisted-suicide machine among items up for sale in Kevorkian auction The machine used by the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian in more than 100 assisted suicides will be among the items up for sale later this month, the auctioneer and his estate announced. The Michigan pathologist helped spur an international ethics debate by helping suffering patients die and pushing for this practice to be legalized. His conviction in one such case landed him in prison for eight years. He died in early June at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, at the age of 83.
Besides the noted Thanatron machine, which Kevorkian built, other items to be auctioned include some of Kevorkian’s correspondences and invention ideas, a pearl flute, his doctor’s bag, a master lock from prison and his signature blue sweater. People can also purchase provocative paintings that he created, which come with brief descriptions from the artist himself. A portion of the auction proceeds will go toward the charity Kids Kicking Cancer at the request of the attorney for Kevorkian’s estate and the late doctor’s niece and sole living heir.
