He furthered the controversy behind his name in 1961 by publishing an article in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology revealing his experiments with direct transfusions of cadaver blood into volunteers. ... On June 4, 1990, Janet Adkins became the first patient to test Kevorkian's mercitron. ... In one court appearance, Kevorkian arrived wearing U.S. colonial-era attire including a white wig, breeches, gold brocade coat, and tricorn hat, and waving a copy of a letter by Thomas Jefferson that he said defended suicide for the terminally ill (Rushe). ...

• Word Count: 2102
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Generally, in America, the practice of physician-assisted suicide is illegal and physicians are liable to face the loss of medicinal practice and imprisonment. ... " In the Colonial period - the 1600's - many people from various persecuted religions in Europe chose to escape to America, and the physicians within these groups, carried with them the belief that assisted suicide was immoral. ... On December 10th, 1828, New York was the first state that specifically prohibits assisted suicide and it initiated a new law for America, the 14th amendment, to condemn the acts of assisting...

• Word Count: 5515
• Approx Pages: 22
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate