AL PACINO WILL PLAY THE ROLE OF JACK KEVORKIAN
Ruzan Khachatryan

"Radiolur"
08.07.2009 15:21

Al Pacino will play the role of Jack Kevorkian, the enigmatic
pathologist known as "Dr. Death" and "Jack the Dripper," who assisted
in more than 130 suicides with his "mercy machine," ABC News reports.

The flamboyant doctor, who served eight years in prison on a
second-degree murder charge, was released from a Michigan maximum
security prison in 2007 with a parole pledge that he never kill again.

There is no clear answer whether what he has done is a murder or not.

Doctors and lawyers have been in constant struggle. Some say helping
an incurable patient commit suicide is a humanitarian impulse, while
others view it as a crime.

To put it in a medical language, it’s called euthanasia, and became
known to the public, at large, due to the scandals around Jack
Kevorkian.

Kevorkian became the face of the assisted suicide movement, which
had its roots in the United States in the 1930s and gathered steam
in the 1990s.

Today, Oregon, Washington and Montana are the only states that
allow terminally ill patients to ask a doctor for a lethal amount of
medication after a medical and psychological evaluation.

In Armenia euthanasia is illegal. The law says that the doctor, who
incites the patient to euthanasia or does it himself, will be called
to account. The Armenian Church also stands agai nst euthanasia,
saying that no one has the right to control the God-given life.

The made-for-television movie, "You Don’t Know Jack," directed by
Barry Levinson ("Rain Main") with a script by Adam Maser ("Breach"),
won’t air on HBO until the spring of 2010.

But the project – five years in the making – is already inflaming
leaders in the assisted death community, which for decades has eyed
Kevorkian with suspicion and disdain.

The film’s producer, Steve Jones, who is also making a documentary of
Kevorkian’s failed 2008 bid for Congress, said the HBO project is not
about euthanasia but "a look at a passionate man who spent his entire
life fighting for rights he believes that every human should have."

Kevorkian was unwilling to talk to ABCNews.com, but his longtime
lawyer said the 81-year-old doctor was "enthused about helping with
the film." "He thinks Al Pacino will be great," said Mayer Morganroth.

Kevorkian lives in Royal Oaks, Mich., and is writing a book. His
artwork is on permanent display in an Armenian museum in Boston.