Doctors’ Offer to Help Kevorkian Patient Rebuffed

Two doctors said Monday that they had offered to help ease the pain of a woman who committed suicide in the presence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, only to be rebuffed by his attorneys.

The physicians, both pain specialists, said they contacted Kevorkian’s lawyers after Margaret Garrish appeared on a videotape with Kevorkian in March and said she wanted to end her life because of her unbearable pain.

Garrish, 72, died Saturday by inhaling deadly carbon monoxide gas supplied by Kevorkian at her home in Royal Oak, Mich. She suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, colonic diverticulitis and advanced osteoporosis, and had lost both legs and one eye.

Dr. Pavan Grover, who runs a pain clinic in Houston, said he had contacted Kevorkian’s chief attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, in April to offer his services and information on new pain relief technology.

“They said they didn’t want my help,” said Grover.

Dr. John Nelson of Traverse City, Mich., said his offers to help went unanswered, adding that Kevorkian likely did not explore all avenues available to Garrish.

Nelson also criticized Kevorkian’s approach to counseling his patients, saying it is not geared toward healing.

“He is a pathologist. The only thing he ever prescribed was formaldehyde,” Nelson said. “I believe that something could have controlled her pain.”

After her video plea, Garrish agreed to try a morphine patch from a Detroit-area doctor.

Michael Schwartz, another attorney for Kevorkian, said the pain still proved too great and she decided to end her suffering. Her death, which has been ruled a homicide, was the 21st suicide Kevorkian had attended since 1990 and his first in more than a year.

Schwartz said Garrish did not need Grover’s or Nelson’s help because she had a local physician trying to help her. He also accused them of being interested in Garrish so they could gain publicity for themselves.