born May 26, 1928, Pontiac, Mich., U.S.
U.S. pathologist, advocate and practitioner of physician-assisted suicide.
He expressed early interest in experimentation on death-row inmates who had been rendered unconscious rather than executed; his ideas negatively affected his medical career. In the 1980s he devised his "suicide machine," with which a person could commit suicide by merely pushing a button, and in the 1990s he assisted in the deaths of over 100 terminally ill persons. His actions provoked furious controversy and led to legislation and referenda; he was tried, convicted twice, and jailed, and his medical license was revoked. In 1998 he was convicted of murder for administering a lethal injection himself and was sentenced to 10–25 years in jail.