Show Americas America's Dr r. r Death 4 Amanda Hughes Columnist x T ANET Adkins faced death last w week ek in an old rusting van in in t I a public campground 2000 miles miles away from her home f Her er life was taken by a contraption made mostly of three dripping bottles the creation of a Detroit doctor named Jack 1 K Kevorkian Adkins laid at rest while he hooked her u up p t to o a he heart rt monitor slid an intravenous needle into her arm and j J j started a harmless saline solution flowing through the tube 1 rJ Adkins then bravely pushed a big red button at the base of the t machine while he sat back and nd watched t the e monitor Immediately Imme Imme- a iJ the saline sahne was s substituted by y a pain pain killer o one e moment mo mo- ment later came th the poison potassium m c chloride lon e. e Within moments moments mo mo- e 11 ments Janet Adkins and Alzheimer's Alzheimer s disease sufferer t J frightened of a painful future was dead of heart stoppage Z 11 The opening performance of Kevorkian's suicide machine 11 T 5 94 which he designed for the terminally ill inflamed the debate lJj over the limitations of mercy killing Adkins became a symbol of all those patients who are face to face with a dreadful r disease As Kevorkian carried his crusade for legal mercy killing killing kill kill- ij ing to the media he was quickly dubbed Dr Death by those r who fail to see a moral difference between unplugging a respirator and plugging in a poison machine Most physicians will respect a patients patient's right to refuse treatment however they will not actively bring about death This attitude takes away the responsibility from humans and places it in the hands of inanimate objects This is not a classic case of euthanasia though Adkins a year old Portland schoolteacher was suffering from the early stages of A hearty lively woman she was not yet very sick It was more her dread than her disease that drove her to seek Kevorkian's help Kevorkian has fought hard for a patients patient's right to commit sui suicide de and a doctors doctor's right to help Last fall he invented the 1 suicide machine using 45 S worth of hardware Adkins read about Kevorkian and contacted him in Michigan First she tried experimental treatments for Alzheimer's but the therapy failed and she vowed to go 1 through with her decision r Kevorkian choose to carry out the act in his 1968 Volkswagen van Without the assistance of any hospital or i lab Kevorkian confirmed an Alzheimer's diagnosis and judged ii Adkins clear Two days later they drove to a public T d h campground As soon as the line one on the heart monitor was still he called the police Kevorkian described his device to the i country as humane dignified and painless and critics as brainwashed ethicists or religious nuts The majority of the medical community rejects Kevorkian's solution fearing the damage that would be done if doctors routinely acted as executioners is now at the mercy of Michigan prosecutors who must examine state laws regarding assisted suicide While y suicide is not ot illegal in many states aiding and abetting sui suicide de is No charges have teen been filed yet but a Michigan judge has issued a temporary restraining order keeping Kevorkian from assisting other suicides |