Other Doctors to Help Woman in Pain, Kevorkian Lawyer Says

Several doctors have volunteered to help relieve the pain of a severely arthritic woman whose suffering prompted Jack Kevorkian to threaten to resume assisted suicides, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Through lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian on Monday said he might go back on his word and help the woman kill herself unless a doctor provides her with stronger painkillers.

In order to get out of jail in December, Kevorkian promised a judge not to help others kill themselves until an appeals court rules on the constitutionality of Michigan’s ban on assisted suicide.

Fieger said a woman in her 70s whom Kevorkian has been counseling is in so much pain that the retired pathologist considers himself “unbridled” from that promise.

“She wants somebody who will give her stronger medication to make the rest of her life more comfortable,” Fieger said. “In the absence of that, Dr. Kevorkian will no longer feel constrained under the promise that he previously made.”

Fieger said Tuesday he had been contacted by seven doctors interested in trying to help, including the woman’s own doctor, who said he would make a call to her home.

Fieger would not identify the doctors except to say they were from the Detroit and Traverse City areas, and would give no detail on what the woman’s doctor or the others said.

Kevorkian can’t prescribe drugs because his medical license has been suspended in Michigan.

In a videotape played at Fieger’s office, the woman, who was not identified, said she has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for 26 years. She described losing an eye, having her left leg amputated four years ago and losing her right leg two weeks ago. She showed her deformed hands.

Asked if she was considering suicide, she replied, “I think that would be the best thing for me.” She said she got pain medication but it was not strong enough.

Fieger had said Kevorkian would act if no help is found for the woman by the time of his April 19 trial on an assisted suicide charge. Judges have dismissed three similar charges against him.

Kevorkian, 65, has been present at 20 deaths since July, 1990. The Legislature last year banned assisted suicides to stop him.