New Kevorkian Case Raises Questions

An autopsy showed that a Pennsylvania man who apparently committed suicide in the presence of retired pathologist Jack Kevorkian was not in danger of dying from bladder cancer, and a relative said the man had been receiving psychiatric treatment since age 3.

But Kevorkian on Wednesday defended his decision to help Franz-Johann Long, 53, die. Kevorkian and his associate, retired psychiatrist Georges Reding, told a news conference that Long was mentally capable of making a decision about ending his life.

The inside of Long’s bladder was inflamed, but Oakland County Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic said he had not determined whether Long, who died last weekend, had cancer. He told a newspaper that Long’s life was not in jeopardy.

The medical examiner’s office said Long died by a drug injection.

Funeral home director Dino Cantelmi in Fountain Hill, Pa., said Long made his own funeral arrangements, telling Cantelmi he was director of a U.N. agency and giving him a business card showing that he was a general in charge of “Kommando Assault Troops.”

Kevorkian says he has helped at least 80 people die.