The man they call “Dr Death” is a free man.
The notorious suicide doctor, Jack Kevorkian, has been released from a Michigan county jail after posting a reduced bail of $100. Kevorkian had earlier refused to post a bail set at $50,000 and had undertaken an 18-day hunger strike to prove his point.
Kevorkian, who has been present at 20 suicides, was charged in early December with breaking the Michigan law which banned assisted suicide. However, a judge in Wayne County later ruled the law to be unconstitutional.
This paved the way for the charges against him to be dropped and for the retired pathologist to be released. First he had to promise that he would not take part in any new assisted suicides until the higher courts ruled on the constitutionality of Michigan’s law which banned the practice.
He must also remain under house arrest and wear an electronic monitoring device until the courts make a ruling.
The conditions of Kevorkian’s release have come under fire because, in the past, he has twice violated other pledges not to assist in suicides.
This past history notwithstanding, he was allowed to make the pledge and was rushed to Detroit’s Sinai hospital where he was rehydrated and treated for the effects of his hunger strike.
In related news, a pathologist from Florida has agreed to give up his medical license rather than face a professional misconduct charge. Peter Rosier admitted to killing his wife who was suffering from cancer.
In January of 1986, Dr. Rosier attempted to kill his wife by giving her 20 sleeping pills. This did not kill her and the next morning he administered a heavy dose of morphine. However, it was not until Mrs. Rosier’s stepfather actually smothered her with a pillow that the woman finally died.
Rosier was acquitted of murder but the Florida Board of Medicine threatened to charge him with professional misconduct unless he agreed to give up his license.
