Dr. Jack Kevorkian has dies at the age of 83 in a Michigan Hospital.

Jack Kevorkian
loading...

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist convicted and jailed for participating in assisted suicides of terminally ill people, died early Friday, his lawyer told local media.

Kevorkian, 83, died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., where he had been hospitalized subce last month with pneumonia and kidney problems.

The lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, said it appears Kevorkian suffered a pulmonary thrombosis when a blood clot from his leg broke free and lodged in his heart, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"It was peaceful. He didn't feel a thing," Morganroth told the newspaper. He says nurses played classical music by Kevorkian's favorite Johan Sebastian Bach before he died.

Morganroth told the Free Press that the hospital staff, doctors and nurses said Kevorkian's passing was "a tremendous loss and I agree with them. He did so much."

Morganroth told the paper that he doubts anyone will assume Kevorkian's role in assisted suicide: "Who else would take those kind of risks?"

Morganroth said there are no plans for any memorial.

Kevorkian, believed to have assisted in 130 suicides, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 and sentenced to 10-25 years in prison but was released in 2007.

In 2008, he ran for Congress as an independent, receiving 2.7 percent of the vote in the suburban Detroit district. He said his experience showed the party system was "corrupt" and "has to be completely overhauled from the bottom up."

His life story became the subject of the 2010 HBO movie, "You Don't Know Jack," which earned actor Al Pacino Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his portrayal of Kevorkian. Pacino paid tribute to Kevorkian during his Emmy acceptance speech and acknowledged the world-famous former doctor, who sat smiling in the audience.

Did you think what he did was right???

More From Cajun Radio 1290 AM