Dr. Jack Kevorkian and Cases of Euthanasia in Oakland County, Michigan, 1990–1998

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Analyses of data from Oregon1,2 and elsewhere3-5 have begun to clarify the characteristics of patients who seek a physician's assistance with suicide or euthanasia. We report on a descriptive clinical analysis of the 69 persons who died with the assistance of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in Oakland County, Michigan, between 1990 and 1998. Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, assisted in the deaths of over 100 people. In 1999, he was sent to prison after being convicted of second-degree murder. We analyzed data from the medical examiner's files, including autopsy findings, for the 69 deaths that were investigated by the Oakland County district office. Since the procedures of medical examiners vary, we excluded deaths investigated and studied at autopsy elsewhere.