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Ah, the irony.</p>
<p>I don’t get the irony…please explain. Was he trying to commit suicide?</p>
<p>I am assuming he died of natural causes. The fsct that they didn’t identify a cause of death struck me as well mildly amusing</p>
<p>Maybe he was drinking his own kool-aid…</p>
<p>I must admit when I saw the headline, the first thing I looked for was cause of death. The latest update on MSNBC says he died of an unexpected pulmonary embolism. Yesterday, he was talking about being discharged from the hospital and going into rehabilitation.</p>
<p>Hey, we all gotta go from something at some point.</p>
<p>He made a valuable difference in the world. I wish all of us could leave this world having made that kind of impact. He raised awareness and created a gigantic dialogue, his mission led to huge improvements in palliative care, as well as legislation to do it the right way (as he could not).</p>
<p>As I see it, some people are truly tortured by psychological or physical pain that modern medicine simply can not relieve and enable one to live a life. Everyone has a right to be relieved of pain and suffering, even if that means so much medicine it kills them. So be it. We do not walk in the shoes of those being tortured.</p>
<p>At least he died doing what he loved.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for making me laugh :)</p>
<p>Well said, starbright.</p>
<p>What they said.</p>
<p>He went quickly and painlessly from a fatal pulmonary embolism. He recently was diagnosed with liver cancer and was in the hospital, preparing for discharge within a day or two. From his perspective he died the perfect death.</p>
<p>Completely agree with starbright - well put</p>
<p>Call me suspicious, but having an embolism sure sounds like it could be a convenient way to go quickly. Regardless, if it was his choice, it was his choice.</p>
<p>I am not convinced that so many years in prison was what he should have set up. Still, and I DO live in Oregon, I think that he made us all think about some important issues. Even if he was not 100% right he still accepted dying in a way that many people do not. Many people say that Elizabeth Kubler Ross died unhappy–but, in fact, she was upset and angry that about how she was treated after her strokes. That is sad, as she spent her life trying to teach us all how to accept that dying is part of living and how those who are dying need to be respected and approached.</p>
<p>I always thought Jack K. was a hero, a champion for those who wanted to direct their own lives in hopeless situations. He had great courage to stand up for what he believed was right. </p>
<p>Right or wrong, I understand and respect those who disagree.</p>
<p>It is being reported that he was too weak to take advantage of the option he offered others, that if he had had enough strength to do something about it, he would have. But that once home, he would not have allowed himself to go back to a hospital. I suspect he would have preferred to do it “his” way. </p>
<p>I also think he was a hero, and that he had great courage. I wished, back in the day, he had been less “in your face” about it. But he was the squeaky wheel, and he made his point. He stood up, sometimes in a clown suit in court, to send a message. He will not be forgotten.</p>
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<p>Absolutely agree.</p>
<p>There are people who choose hospice, which society accepts as a reasonable option and provides support for this way of signing out. I’m sure there are those who want to go a step further and I agree with Dr. K’s approach and thank him for trying to give us choices similar to what we enjoy in other aspects of life - contraception, for example.</p>
<p>I, too, wished the under-lying message had been delivered by a more savvy spokes-person. But…it wasn’t happening.</p>
<p>Jack did what his conscience made him do. And he did it to the best of his ability. He made a significant contribution. Not bad, Jack. Not bad, at all.</p>
<p>ITA, Kevorkian was a hero, albeit a flawed one. Without him, none of us would have the choices about end of life that we have today.</p>