Prescription Medicide

by Jack Kevorkian

For many years Dr. Kevorkian was at the center of the red-hot debate over physician-assisted suicide. The inventor of the "suicide machine" stirred up both admiration and controversy. His "Deaths with Dignity" won him the accolades of the pro-choice movement. Other groups, like Operation Rescue, the AMA, the Hemlock Society, and especially the Michigan State Legislature, insisted that Kevorkian had gone too far. His much-publicized campaign to assist the terminally ill to commit suicide eventually led to his prosecution and imprisonment.

In Medicide, the famed "suicide doctor" talks about why he was so committed to his struggle. He addresses the need to assist the terminally ill to die, how death row inmates should be allowed to donate organs after their deaths, and the need for medical reform to create a rational program of dignified, humane, beneficial planned death.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medicine, Medical, Philosophy

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian was an American pathologist, right-to-die activist, painter, composer, and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he said that he assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime".

Beginning in 1999, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on parole on June 1, 2007, on condition that he would not offer suicide advice to any other person.

As an oil painter and a jazz musician, Kevorkian marketed limited quantities of his visual and musical artwork to the public.

Reviews

[Wayne Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I wish I would have paid more attention to the publication date of this book, then I would have known that this was all prior to the real meat and potatoes of Kervorkians assisted suicide crusade. Nevertheless, I still learned a lot more about the man than expected. This book covered a lot more about his ideas than just assisted euthanasia. As a matter of fact, the bulk of this publication has more to do with his ideas and battles concerning organ donors; most notably, death-row inmates who want to voluntarily donate but have not been allowed due to flaws in the system.

This partial autobiography, by Kervorkian himself, was well written, but he repeated scenarios in which, once his point was made, seemed to be unnecessary. Also, his continual details in areas of medicine, law, and histories concerning execution were overdone which made it hard for an average layman such as myself to follow without drifting off due to boredom. Still, not only did I learn more than expected, I felt Kervorkians passion about his fight to help those who are suffering, and I admired him for having the courage to fight against overwhelming odds that always seem to arise whenever someone who is ahead of their time comes along and rocks the boat, especially when that boat is full of politicians, judges, surgeons, and theologians.

[SirLordBaltimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's surprising how many people remain childish when it comes to Kevorkian. At some point (probably after he's long dead and people discover him), he will likely be recognized as one of the most important and significant minds of the 20th century. The truth is, our society is not ready for someone like Kevorkian. All too often we hide in the safety of dull and common shelters. "Don't rock the boat kids!"

Kevorkian's life is an expression of savant-like intelligence coupled with real moxie. The guy is unrepressable and refuses to back down to others who do not disprove his arguments by logical means. As you read, the portrait of this rare person comes into focus and is revealed.

[Tetchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man is absolutely brilliant. It's awful that his ideas and perspectives were completely ignored by his peers.

[InYourFaceNewYorker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very fascinating book in which Dr. Jack Kevorkian outlines his ideas for gaining benefit out of death. Since the late 1950s, he pursued organ donation and experimentation on condemned criminals-- with their consent, of course-- under heavy anesthesia just before death. In the 1990s, when he began his euthanasia campaign, Dr. Kevorkian began campaigning for this scientific research on those who wished to die. It makes a lot of sense-- why shouldn't something good come out of death? If I wanted to die, I would opt for organ donation and experimentation. Unfortunately, many people who read this book or who hear about it reflexively compare Dr. Kevorkian to Josef Mengele, the lunatic Nazi doctor who did his experiments-- many of them pointless-- on prisoners without anesthesia and, more importantly, WITHOUT CONSENT. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mengele was a sadist, Dr. Kevorkian was a humanitarian, even if a bit of an oddball one!

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had written about a 250 word review, with about ten words to go, and my hand slipped, sending it into the server in the sky.Phooey. Well this one will just have to stand on its rating, and that alone.

[Kevin Dufresne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi,

I hope all is progressing well.

Prescription: Medicine: The Goodness of Planned Death by Dr. Jack Kevorkian is about developing obitiatry in order to further human development(s) medically as well as Dr. Jack Kevorkian's efforts to get death row inmates to become organ donors, to become choice candidates for obitiatry especially members on the path of condemnation to a sure death sentence, and Dr. Jack Kevorkian's historical-social-medical-philosophical observations of human autonomy particularly concerning death and life especially in relation to the developing medical field. The author presents very sound economical and moral arguments. Recalling my reason for buying the text reminds me of the ambiguous joyful somberness of the nineties, I'm glad about having individuals engage with me—especially in my younger years—varying topics. Life is such a variety show. To be in fourth grade at a Christian school having a teacher answer my inquiries of euthanasia to then watch a classmate squeeze gerbils to watch the eyes pop unnaturally (or perhaps naturally, since it happens) slightly out of their heads before returning to normal in their heads. Life. My curiosity branches from encountering Dr. Jack Kevorkian while watching channels through a large wooden Zenith television, luxury furniture, in an aunt and uncle's living room. Suicide never looks as good as anything else optional on the other channels. Plus, coming from communities respecting religious laws via the Holy Bible, sacrifice is sacrosanct, and one must choose mindfully—wisely—that which one wants one's life to be about (which is always choosing good over evil whether one's life is hard or not because in the end all proves well with God, amen!). I buy the text to get a deeper perspective of the doctor's pursuits. Regarding the death penalty, Dr. Jack Kevorkian attempts to appreciate life in lieu of meaningless death against a societal mentality of revenge and violence by means of creating meaningful death to engage realms of infradeath as well as potentially save lives through organ donations of any subject to the death penalty with no way out. I'm glad about reading the text.

Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne
www.Piatures.com
IG: @Dufreshest

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers might be a little disappointed to know that the majority of this book is not concerned with the euthanasia movement which Kevorkian became a staunch advocate of. I would say anywhere between 70-80% focuses instead on Kevorkian's previous campaigns in fighting for the right of death row inmates to have a choice between traditional methods of execution or consenting to medical experimentation and organ harvesting under anesthesia.

It's not to say that these stories are wholly uninteresting, as it provided me with a better understanding of the person of Kevorkian as opposed to merely his controversy. That's perhaps what this book is most valuable in providing is something of a conversation. Though I did find the persistence of his cause and his chronicling of his continued rejection by the likes of medical journals and state legislatures to be a bit tiresome, what made it enticing enough to finish was Kevorkian's personality. If anyone is familiar with Kevorkian's character, antics and overall personality from media coverage as I was, you almost read the book with the doctor's voice and eccentricity in your mind.

Overall, I would consider the book valuable as a discussion of medical ethics. Being no stranger to controversy in his time, Kevorkian makes many attempts to criticize aspects of both Academia and medicine as representing hallowed institutions that have no real basis of ethics, but instead present themselves as being arbiters of an enlightened truth. For example, there is an entire chapter in which Kevorkian dissects that Hippocratic Oath which many doctors and physicians claim to be strict adherents of. Unsurprisingly, Kevorkian finds this adherence anachronistic, and postulates that many doctors are in fact not as familiar with the oath as they claim to be.

I would recommend the book if you have something of an interest in Kevorkian as I did, but I wouldn't go into it expecting a dense and thorough discussion of euthanasia. These issues, which Kevorkian has undoubtedly has attracted the most attention from, don't really come into play until the last three or four chapters of the book.

[Deyth Banger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great book, it's about fighting for medicine in morever fighting for to have the choice you to decided to die. A lot of people want to die, but they can't they don't have money, they can't afford it and here comes Jack Kevorkian who helps people he gives them the choice to choose die or live, with this method a lot of stuff are losed like Drug Stores won't get money + and the doctors, and he decided to continue doing this he reach 180 Patient kills. Maybe you will call him killer, but he isn't a killer, he just gives people to make choice, it's not fair that rich can afford to give money for they to die and people like the poor can't afford it. He apear here, in the begining I was this place okay what now he is doing he is killing them and why??? Why is he doing this (Note - As you know Always the begining is Proveking), this book I had in my shelf and it was on the way to read it, but somehow I didn't wanted why??? I didn't know, but now maybe I have found why. ..I like that jack Kevorkian gives the chance people to can decide live or die, it doesn't matter for who is it, is it for the poor people or for the rich. He apears here above law (as you know you can't be above law), he just make lawlessness. He doesn't care for what law gives, he just goes above law!
Just great guy 1928-2011 - 2011 he died unfortunately, I strongly suggest all people which are here and whcih don't know this book to check it out, and people which know it and haven't check it out to check it out!

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very direct look at why some of medicines policies need to be changed and how to change them.