Should humans be able to have so much power that they can act like 'God'? This question is often raised with the concept of euthanasia. In 1990, a retired pathologist named Jack Kevorkian sparked a revolution in ethical thinking by helping Oregon woman Janet Adkins die. Adkins was fifty-four when she was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, the fourth leading cause of death among Americans. He tried experimental drugs to address the symptoms of progressive memory loss, but they were unsuccessful. On June 4, 1990, Adkins met Kevorkian in Michigan, where assisted suicide and euthanasia were not illegal at the time, to perform the suicide procedure. The two were denied use of clinics, churches and funeral homes when they explained the intentions of the procedure. Instead, they executed him in a van. The case received more publicity than expected, and Kevorkian was tried for murder (Pence 53-54). Euthanasia by definition is "deliberate killing committed under the impulse of compassion in order to alleviate the physical pain of a person suffering from an incurable disease and whose death is therefore inevitable" (Diaconescu). It is very similar to physician-assisted suicide, but there is a key difference. During the process of physician-assisted suicide, the doctor prescribes only a lethal dose of drug to the patient while, as in euthanasia, the doctor not only prescribes the drug, but also administers (Lowry 107). Euthanasia can be divided into three forms: voluntary euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia, and nonvoluntary euthanasia occurs when suffering individuals ask to die alone, while involuntary euthanasia occurs when they eut. ..... half of the document ......4.2 (2012): 474+. Opposing views in context. Network. 20 February 2014. Lee, M.Stingl, Alexander. "Assisted suicide: an overview. " Points of View: Assisted Suicide (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Network. March 15, 2014Loewy, Erich H. and Roberta Springer Loewy. The ethics of terminal care: Orchestrating the end of life. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2002. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Network. March 14, 2014. Marker, Rita L. and Kathi Hamlon. “Euthanasia and assisted suicide should not be legal.” Assisted suicide. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Euthanasia and assisted suicide: frequently asked questions". Patients' Rights Council, 2010. Opposing views in context. Network. March 14, 2014. Pence, Gregory E.. Medical Ethics: Groundbreaking Case Reports. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.