R.I.P., Dr. Death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, crusading physician for the cause of assisted suicide, died Friday in a hospital in his home state of Michigan. It was, relatively speaking, a natural death for the 83-year-old, who had been suffering from heart and kidney troubles in recent weeks.  —KA

Reuters:

The Detroit Free Press reported that Kevorkian, previously diagnosed with liver cancer, died from a blood clot that lodged in his heart.

Kevorkian, a pathologist, was focused on death and dying long before he ignited a polarizing national debate over assisted suicide by crisscrossing Michigan in a rusty Volkswagen van hauling a machine to help sick and suffering people end their lives.

Some viewed him as a hero who allowed the terminally ill to die with dignity, while his harshest critics reviled him as a cold-blooded killer who preyed on those suffering from chronic pain and depression. Most of his clients were middle-aged women.

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Dr. Jack Kevorkian speaks at UCLA’s Royce Hall in January.