'Doctor Death' Jack Kevorkian Dies At 83

Pathologist and right-to-die activist Jack Kevorkian has passed away at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. According to his attorney Mayer Morganroth, there were no artificial attempts to keep him alive and his death was painless.

Kevorkian became infamous for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide, claiming to have assisted at least 130 patients himself. In 2008 Kevorkian gave a lecture to approximately 5,000 people at the University of Florida where he was quoted saying, "My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death. My aim was to end suffering.”

In 2010, HBO made the film You Don’t Know Jack, based on Kevorkian’s life starring Al Pacino, who received an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance. A decade prior to that writer Kurt Vonnegut released a collection of short stories titled, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian, in which Vonnegut employs Dr. Jack Kevorkian to give him near-death experiences, allowing him access to heaven and those in it for a limited time.