Suburban lament

While I seldom find myself agreeing with Jack Lessenberry, I have to say that he nailed it this time with "Cost of corruption" (June 1). Sadly, I doubt that the people that you tried to reach are listening, and it's always going to be "them vs. us" when it comes to the citizens' thinking in Detroit. Which is why I very seldom go south of Eight Mile Road in the decades since I stopped working there. —Frank Cizek, Troy

Slippery slope

This is what bothers me about Dr. Kevorkian: Someone says (or thinks) he's not ready to die yet.

"But, Dad: Susan has four years of medical school ahead and Jim wants to start his own business." So Dad goes ahead and asks for something he isn't ready for yet. It is true, medical bills in the final months of life are horrendous; but where does it end? Soon, anyone who is not a healthy 25-year-old will be at risk. —John Mills, Detroit

The ABCs of K

I read with interest Jack Lessenberry's article, "The meaning of Dr. K." I give Dr. Kevorkian credit for getting us to think about what most people hate to consider — death. If it weren't for him, people might not plan for death as meticulously as we do for life. It helps explain why it is so common now for people to have an advance health care directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, or advance decision, which are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity, and appoints a person to make such decisions on their behalf.

However, I don't like the idea of being obsessed with death or using death as a solution to all of our problems. Life is a gift and should be valued as such, and should not be terminated unless somebody is terminally ill. According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, 60 percent of the patients who committed suicide with Kevorkian's help were not terminally ill. In his view, a patient did not have to be terminally ill to be assisted in committing suicide, but did need to be suffering. To me, that's unacceptable, —Pradeep Srivastava, Detroit

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