So, what did I know of the man? I thought back to the first time that I had heard Dr. Kevorvian speak. I remember he was being interviewed on TV. I can't remember exactly when. It may have been on the Phil Donahue Show.
While conducting research for this article, I searched for, but was unable to locate, the exact quote I heard from Dr. Kevorvian that day. I can only share the gist of what he said. It was more of a wonderment that roped in my attention. I was a nurse struggling with my own feelings about how to handle caring for the terminally ill. No one was talking about these subjects at that time.
Dr. Kevorkian wondered why we treated our pets more humanely in this society that we treated people. He was referring to the fact that we routinely euthanize terminally ill pets.(See also Considering Your Options: Pet Euthanasia.) Dr. Kevorkian was using the subject of euthanasia to point out his belief in the need to legalize Assisted Suicide.
In fact, he pointed out that it was common practice for doctors to increase the dosage of pain medications to the point of over dosing terminally ill patients and hastening their death. I did not believe that the general public realized this practice was routinely used. There were some major differences between that accepted method and Dr. Kevorkian's revolutionary ideas. Dr. Kevorkian's suggested method would have been a much quicker method to hasten death, it would be discussed openly, and someone would be accepting the responsibility for the final decision.
As a nurse, I wondered what kinds of reactions family members would have had to this assisted suicide idea. I had witnessed many varied reactions of family members to the dying of a loved one. Some people ignored the patient as if they had already passed. Some wanted every treatment possible provided to the patient even if there was no possible way they could recover. Frequently, no thought was given to the pain that the patient was experiencing or that we might be lengthening the time that pain would last. Other people actually wanted to end the suffering of the patient no matter what the consequences.
