Baltimore Doctor Accused Of Helping People Commit Suicide Is Acquitted
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—A Baltimore doctor accused of helping people commit suicide is acquitted of criminal charges in Arizona. But he's not in the clear yet.
Adam May reports he still faces similar charges in Georgia.
Dr. Lawrence Egbert has been cleared of illegally assisting in the suicide of an Arizona woman. He was arrested at his home in Hampden in 2009, and then spoke to WJZ about his involvement in the Right To Die Movement.
May: "How many people have you helped?"
Dr. Egbert: "Roughly 100."
Egbert was the medical director of the Final Exit Network, a group that supplies help, support and a suicide plan for people suffering from a variety of fatal diseases.
May: "What is the medical process?"
Dr. Egbert: "You have a bag of helium on your head, and the person will breathe the helium and become unconscious in 30-60 seconds."
May: "Do you actually administer the helium, or does the patient?"
Dr. Egbert: "We do nothing but give advice. You have to pull the balloon down. I am not gonna pull the balloon down for you."
That's what happened to John Celmer, a throat cancer patient in Georgia whose wife was blindsided by the suicide and pressed authorities to open another criminal case.
Assisted suicide is illegal in 38 states, including Maryland.
Doctor and congressman Andy Harris is an outspoken critic.
"He's being a judge of life and death," Congressman Harris said. "As physicians, we're not supposed to be in that role."
But in a new interview with the Baltimore Sun, Egbert continues defending the practice.
"How come you can take your dog and put your dog [down], but your mother, who suffers just the same or similarly, you can't put down?" Egbert said.
Egbert is free on bail in the Georgia case. On Tuesday, a court denied his motion to dismiss the charges.
