Defying New Law, ‘Suicide Doctor’ Helps Man to Take His Own Life

Retired pathologist Jack Kevorkian said he helped a 30-year-old man with Lou Gehrig’s disease kill himself Wednesday, his first such admission since a state law banning assisted suicide took effect in February.

“I assisted Thomas Hyde in a merciful suicide. There’s no doubt about that. I state it emphatically,” Kevorkian told reporters outside his lawyer’s Southfield office. “I will always do so when a patient needs it, because I’m a physician.”

Hyde, 30, of Novi, inhaled carbon monoxide on Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, Kevorkian attorney Geoffrey Fieger said. Hyde suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative nerve disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Kevorkian said the disease advanced unusually quickly.

It was the second time that Kevorkian has been present at a suicide since the new state ban took effect. In the May 16 death of a Southfield man, Kevorkian’s lawyers said only that he was present, a change from descriptions of him assisting suicides in most previous cases. No charges have been brought.

The new Michigan law, passed last year in response to Kevorkian’s actions, imposes a penalty of up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine for violators.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Stevens overturned the law on technical grounds on May 20. But the state Court of Appeals blocked Stevens’ ruling in June while it reviews the case.

Police Inspector Gerald Stewart refused to discuss the investigation of Hyde’s death other than to say Kevorkian was questioned.

“If we come up with the elements necessary to proceed with charges, we will,” Stewart said.