Maurice Généreux
Encyclopedia
Maurice Généreux is a Canadian physician who was convicted in 1998 of prescribing medicines to commit suicide with in 1996 to two HIV positive gay men in Toronto
, Canada
, Mark Jewitt and Aaron McGinn. He was the first doctor in North America
to be convicted for assisting a suicide (followed in 1999 by Jack Kevorkian
).
Mark Jewitt took a lethal dose but managed to survive when a friend found him and called the emergency services. Aaron McGinn died in 1996 from sleeping pills that Généreux provided, and Généreux attempted to forge McGinn's death certificate to make it look as if he had died from AIDS rather than sleeping pills. The investigation into Généreux started when a psychiatrist raised doubts about McGinn's death to the chief coroner in Toronto. Following an investigation, Généreux was arrested on 20 June 1996.
Généreux was sent to prison for two years minus a day and lost his medical license.
According to Ian Dowbiggin, the author of A Concise History of Euthanasia, Généreux's actions revealed an "underground" network of euthanasia provision for AIDS sufferers in Toronto's gay community.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Mark Jewitt and Aaron McGinn. He was the first doctor in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to be convicted for assisting a suicide (followed in 1999 by Jack Kevorkian
Jack Kevorkian
Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian , commonly known as "Dr. Death", was an American pathologist, euthanasia activist, painter, composer and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he said he assisted at least 130 patients to...
).
Mark Jewitt took a lethal dose but managed to survive when a friend found him and called the emergency services. Aaron McGinn died in 1996 from sleeping pills that Généreux provided, and Généreux attempted to forge McGinn's death certificate to make it look as if he had died from AIDS rather than sleeping pills. The investigation into Généreux started when a psychiatrist raised doubts about McGinn's death to the chief coroner in Toronto. Following an investigation, Généreux was arrested on 20 June 1996.
Généreux was sent to prison for two years minus a day and lost his medical license.
According to Ian Dowbiggin, the author of A Concise History of Euthanasia, Généreux's actions revealed an "underground" network of euthanasia provision for AIDS sufferers in Toronto's gay community.