Since the cloning of Dolly the sheep, research involving nuclear transfer-derived cells - and intelligent debate about that research - has been plagued by a phenomenon you might call "kevorkianization." Whatever your view of physician-assisted suicide, the now-legendary convicted felon Jack Kevorkian was the last person on earth who should have been the public advocate for the procedure. Dropping off cadavers in a rusty Volkswagen van on the way to press conferences, he turned euthanasia into reality TV, extolling wisdom about the wishes and conditions of his "patients" and promoting a chain of euthanasia shops.
Kevorkian's untimely decision to make theater out of coping with suffering at the end of life resulted in the total collapse of public discussion about the national need to improve hospice care, nursing homes, and Medicare. To this day, far more attention has been focused on assisted suicide in Oregon than on the drug needs ...
