Jack Kevorkian's offer to donate the kidneys of a man he helped commit suicide in early June met with no takers.
On June 7, Kevorkian announced that a pair of kidneys were available that were taken from a 45-year-old quadriplegic and that the kidneys would be viable until the next day. Despite receiving inquiries from more than 20 people who were interested in the kidneys, the kidneys eventually went unclaimed.
According to Reuters news service, Kevorkian said: "The ethics scare all of them. No so-called legitimate medical outfit will touch it." Once the deadline passed, Kevorkian hinted that he might continue to harvest organs.
Reuters said that in response to Kevorkian's actions, the United Network for Organ Sharing issued a memo reminding the directors of organ procurement organizations of the procedures for all aspects of transplantation, including the fact that organ recovery must be conducted through a host organ procurement organization.
UPI reported on June 9 that "officials were investigating the man's death as a homicide and possible case of corpse mutilation. The medical examiner said [the man] died of an intravenous injection of poison."
Kevorkian announced in October that he hoped to establish a system to donate the organs of the patients he helps commit suicide. In his 1991 book, Prescription: Medicide, Kevorkian outlined a three-part plan: to implement assisted suicide, to make patients' organs available for donation, and to make patients themselves--under irreversible anesthesia--available for medical experimentation before dying.
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