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Murad Jacob Kevorkian aka "Jack Kevorkian" was born May 26, 1928 and passed on June 3, 2011 at the age of 83. He was an American pathologist and proponent of euthanasia who publicly championed a terminal patient's right to die by physician assisted suicide.
This philosophy resulted in the media ascribing "Dr Death" as a reference to him and his work and there were individuals who both supported this cause and others who were adamantly against it.
In 1998, Kevorkian was arrested and tried for his direct role in a case of voluntary euthanasia on a man named Thomas Youk who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS.
For this he was convicted of second degree murder for which he served 8 years of a 10 to 25 year prison sentence.
He was released on parole on June 1, 2007 under the conditions that he would not offer advice, participate, nor be present in the act of any type of suicide involving euthanasia to any other person. He was furthermore restricted from promoting or discussing the procedure involve with the topic of assisted suicide.
His assisted suicide involvement with one Janet Adkins, a 54-year-old woman diagnosed in 1989 with Alzheimer's disease, took place on this day in 1990.
Charges of murder were dropped on December 13, 1990 due to the nonexistence of statutes regarding assisted suicide in Michigan.
In 1991, however, the State of Michigan revoked Kevorkian's medical license and made it clear that, given his actions, he was no longer permitted to practice medicine or to work with patients.
His legacy is a more open handling of assisted suicide with legality in some US states and there is a European contingent with the same goals which are a painless and humane ending for those who are suffering terminal illness.