Janet Adkins was Dr. Kevorkian’s first public assisted suicide. Adkins was newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease when Dr. Kevorkian assisted her in committing suicide in 1989. The case stimulated discussion on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Kevorkian was charged with murder, but the Oakland County District Court dropped charges on December 13, 1990, after a two-day preliminary hearing. The court ruled that Kevorkian did not break any law by helping Adkins commit suicide because there is no Michigan law outlawing suicide or the medical assistance of it. Some of the more prominent issues in the case concerned whether Adkins was in fact giving informed consent; the fact that Dr. Kevorkian did not have an established professional relationship with her; the fact that she was not terminally ill; the whole issue of whether or not a person actually possesses the right to die; and discussions on the limits of autonomy. [Source: People v. Dr. Kevorkian, No. 90-20157 (52nd Dist. Ct. Mich. 1991); 534 N.W. 2d. 172 (1995).]
Principles & Concepts: respect for autonomy, common good, human rights, human dignity, professional integrity.
