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Read the latest from the bizarre world of Kevorkian, who spent years behind bars after he showed the euthanasia death of a disabled man on television
Assisted suicide crusader Jack Kevorkian recently told CNN in an interview that he has no regrets about killing more than 100 people in assisted suicides. He also told medical correspondent and physician Sanjay Gupta that he regrets his birth.
The answers are just the latest from the bizarre world of Kevorkian, who spent years behind bars after he showed the euthanasia death of a disabled man on television.
“Let me tell you something,” Kevorkian said before Gupta could begin the interview. “Is that what this is about -- you want to know how I really feel, what makes me tick? I have no regrets, none whatsoever.”
Gupta still had not asked a single question when Kevorkian interjected: “Sanjay, you want to know the single worst moment of my life?”
“The single worst moment of my life... was the moment I was born,” Kevorkian told the CNN interviewer.
Gupta admits he was taken aback by the conversation.
“There haven’t been many times when I have been at a loss for words when conducting an interview as a medical reporter. This was one of those moments,” he said. “It was windy outside, but it was also over 90 degrees in sunny Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was now sweating, and he was ... well, cold.”
In the interview, Kevorkian told CNN he doesn’t earn any money from the recent movie starring Al Pacino that bears his name and was shown on HBO.
Gupta says Kevorkian, “not surprisingly” advocates assisted suicide -- or as the former pathologist calls it, a “medical procedure” called “patholysis.”
“Path means disease or suffering,” he said.
“And lysis, means destruction,” Gupta answered.
“Exactly,” he answered.
Gupta went as far as to challenge Kevorkian in the CNN interview.
“It says here that in at least five of the people, there was no evidence of any disease on autopsy,” he said of a study of the supposedly incurably ill patients Kevorkian killed. “I let that hang in the air for a second. He seemed a little stunned that I had found this study. He shook his head slightly, and looked again at his lawyer, with no intention of addressing the point I had just made.”
Kevorkian finally responded: “Recently, I had three former CEOs of companies -- perfectly healthy -- who called me up and told me they wish to die.”
Both men paused until Gupta asked him about his response.
“I didn’t do anything, but people have their rights,” he said.
Gupta surmised: “I realized this was what he had building up to for some time. This wasn’t just about assisted suicide; this was about upholding the ability for people to do whatever they wanted to do, without interference from doctors, the states or the federal government.”
And he responded to Kevorkian: “In times of desperation, people may make decisions they regret,” I started up again. “This isn’t about deciding whether you want frozen yogurt or ice cream. These decisions about patholysis are ... forever.”
Kevorkian agreed but defended himself by saying he did mental exams on his patients before killing them.
Kevorkian added he disagreed with the states that have legalized assisted suicide thus far, saying they are wrong because they rely on patients having a terminal illness to qualify. He’d rather allow anyone to kill themselves with a doctor’s help.
“What difference does it make if someone is terminal?” he said. “We are all terminal.”
Kevorkian added he disagreed with the states that have legalized assisted suicide thus far, saying they are wrong because they rely on patients having a terminal illness to qualify. He’d rather allow anyone to kill themselves with a doctor’s help.
“What difference does it make if someone is terminal?” he said. “We are all terminal.”
