A comparison of characteristics of Kevorkian euthanasia cases and physician-assisted suicides in Oregon.

Lori A. Roscoe et al., A Comparison of Characteristics of Kevorkian Euthanasia Cases and Physician-Assisted Suicides in Oregon, 41 GERONTOLOGIST 439 (2001).

The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of Kevorkian euthanasia cases were compared with Oregon physician-assisted suicide (PAS) cases and U.S. mortality data. Two hundred variables were coded from medical examiner reports on all sixty-nine Kevorkian euthanasia cases who died and were autopsied by the Oakland County Medical Examiner. Data on the forty-three Oregon PAS cases in the first two years and U.S. mortality data were obtained from published sources. Only 25% of patients euthanized by Kevorkian were terminally ill as compared to one hundred percent of Oregon PAS cases. PAS cases were significantly more likely to have cancer (72%) than...