Assisted-Suicide Activist Jack Kevorkian Dies

'Dr. Death' forced assisted suicide into the spotlight by helping dozens of patients end their lives.

Jack Kevorkian, the American doctor and long-time assisted-suicide activist, has died in a Michigan hospital at the age of 83 due to heart and kidney problems. Kevorkian was both reviled and celebrated for overseeing some 130 assisted suicides for patients who were unable to end their own lives. Kevorkian began his crusade in 1990 and was quickly termed “Dr. Death” by opponents who thought he was more a murderer than a doctor. Murder charges were laid against him four times, but the first three times he avoided conviction. In 1999, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison, serving eight years.