Mike Wallace’s Kiss Up Interview of Kevorkian: The Corruption of Journalism

I just watched the 60 Minutes interview of Kevorkian, and it was everything I expected it wouldn’t be. First, “the hug” is not shown. The video of Kevorkian’s release is shown, and when Wallace is meeting Kevorkian, the video cuts just before Wallace’s infamous smiling bear hug of his pal. Second, Wallace does not disclose that he too, is an avid euthanasia proponent. Third, Wallace never brooks Kevorkian’s obsession with “obitiatry,” Kevorkian’s word for human vivisection. Nor did Wallace mention or ask Kevorkian about tearing out the kidneys of Joseph Tushkowski and offering them for transplant “first come, first served.” He did not mention nor ask Kevorkian about the undisputed fact that most of Kevorkian’s “patients” were not terminally ill. He did not mention nor ask Kevorkian about the fact that Kevorkian has never advocated that euthanasia be limited to the terminally ill. Etc., etc., ad nauseum.

Kevorkian speaks about Youk being “terrified of choking to death.” Kevorkian says, “It is up to me to dispel that terror.” But he promotes terror by reinforcing the fears of ALS patients and their families that they will die by choking. I researched this matter carefully, speaking with some of the top hospice doctors in the world. I discovered that with proper medical interventions, people with ALS do not choke to death. Indeed, I carefully examined this matter with Dame Cecily Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement. She told me that in decades of hospice practice, not one of the thousands of ALS patient under her care ever died of choking. Not only did Kevorkian not tell Youk that, but 60 Minutes permitted the fear to be broadcast once again.

Kevorkian even had to ask Wallace to be a little tough in the interview. Scandalous. Irresponsible. Journalism at its most unjournalistic.