Maryland Practitioner Loses License for Assisting Suicide

According to Medscape Medical News, Dr. Lawrence Egbert, M.D. was stripped of his medical license for assisting individuals as they asphyxiated on helium. Assisting suicide is a criminal act in the state of Maryland.

Oregon, Washington and Vermont do not prohibit physician-assisted suicide, and this has fueled a nationwide debate. Although it is not illegal in these three states, there are strict conditions dictating when it is permissible to prescribe a lethal drug to a terminally ill patient.

Dr. Egbert has been described as the successor to “Dr. Death,” Jack Kevorkian. He has never been charged with a crime in Maryland; however, he was charged in Georgia, where an appeals court found the law unconstitutional. He was also charged with manslaughter in Arizona, where he was acquitted by a jury.