Jack Kevorkian
Pathologist and euthanasia advocate known as "Dr. Death".
Jack Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011), often called "Dr. Death," was an American pathologist who argued for a terminally ill person's right to end their life with a doctor's help. He famously said, "Dying is not a crime," and claimed to have helped at least 130 people die. In 1999, he was found guilty of murder.
Born Murad Jacob Kevorkian in Pontiac, Michigan, to Armenian parents who had fled the Ottoman Empire, he grew up questioning religion after learning about the Armenian genocide. A gifted child, he taught himself several languages and graduated high school with honors at 17. He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1952 and trained in pathology.
Kevorkian spent decades pushing controversial ideas about death. In 1959, he proposed that death-row inmates be allowed to choose medical experimentation under anesthesia as an alternative to execution. His employer, the University of Michigan, opposed this, and he left rather than drop the idea. Later, after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, he tried to get permission to harvest organs from executed prisoners for transplants, but prison officials refused. As a pathologist, he also experimented with transfusing blood from the recently deceased into living people, hoping the military might use it for wounded soldiers, but the Pentagon showed no interest.
In the 1980s, he wrote articles on euthanasia ethics for a German journal. By 1987, he was advertising as a "death counseling" consultant. His first public assisted suicide came in 1990, when he helped Janet Adkins, a woman with Alzheimer's. Murder charges were dropped because Michigan had no law against assisted suicide at the time. But in 1991, the state revoked his medical license, and California followed in 1993. Kevorkian's lawyer said he would keep helping people die, daring authorities to stop him.
Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian's lawyer said he assisted 130 terminally ill people. In each case, the patient took the final action themselves, often by pushing a button on a device Kevorkian built. One device, the "Thanatron," delivered drugs intravenously; another, the "Mercitron," used a gas mask with carbon monoxide.
Kevorkian was tried four times for assisted suicide between 1994 and 1997. He was acquitted three times, and the fourth trial ended in a mistrial. In 1998, he was arrested for murder after broadcast
- born
- May 26, 1928, Pontiac, Michigan
- died
- June 3, 2011
- field
- Pathology
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Physician-assisted suicide advocacy and euthanasia
Lore & Background
Murad Jacob Kevorkian was born on May 26, 1928, in Pontiac, Michigan, to Armenian immigrants from the Ottoman Empire. His father left Ottoman Armenia in 1912, and his mother fled the Armenian genocide of 1915. Kevorkian was a child prodigy, teaching himself multiple languages, and graduated from Pontiac Central High School with honors in 1945. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1952 and completed residency training in anatomical and clinical pathology.
Over decades, Kevorkian developed controversial ideas related to death. In a 1959 journal article, he proposed that condemned prisoners be allowed to submit to medical experimentation under complete anesthesia as a form of execution. He later advocated harvesting organs from death-row inmates. As a pathologist, he experimented with transfusing blood from the recently deceased into live patients. In the 1980s, he wrote articles on euthanasia ethics. In 1987, he began advertising as a physician consultant for "death counseling". His first public assisted suicide was of Janet Adkins in 1990. Charges were dropped as there were no laws in Michigan regarding assisted suicide at that time. His medical license was revoked in 1991.
Kevorkian was tried four times for assisting suicides between 1994 and 1997, being acquitted the first three times and the fourth ending in a mistrial. In 1998, he was arrested and tried for murder after broadcasting the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, who had ALS. He was convicted of second-degree murder and served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence. He was released on parole on June 1, 2007, on condition he would not offer advice about, participate in, or be present at any type of euthanasia, nor promote or talk about the procedure of assisted suicide.
Reader's Guide
Jack Kevorkian's significance lies in his role as a central figure in the debate over physician-assisted suicide in the United States. By publicly assisting in the deaths of over 130 people, he forced legal and ethical questions about the right to die into the national spotlight. His actions led to multiple trials, with acquittals and a mistrial before a final murder conviction for the euthanasia of Thomas Youk. The controversy surrounding his methods was heightened by reports that 60% of his patients were not terminally ill, and at least 13 had not complained of pain. Autopsies showed five people had no disease at all. Critics noted brief counseling, lack of psychiatric exams, and failure to refer patients to pain specialists. Kevorkian himself had written that consulting a psychiatrist was necessary. His legacy remains polarizing: he is seen by some as a compassionate advocate for patient autonomy and by others as a reckless figure who bypassed medical safeguards. His imprisonment and parole conditions underscored the legal boundaries that ultimately constrained his activism.
Did You Know?
- Kevorkian was a child prodigy who taught himself German, Russian, Greek, and Japanese.
- He experimented with transfusing blood from corpses into live hospital staff members.
- His first public assisted suicide was of Janet Adkins, a woman diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, in 1990.
- He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 and served eight years of a 10-to-25-year sentence.
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