Original subtitles

She was admitted through the ER a couple of hours ago.

I thought her nephew was staying with her. Why didn't he bring her in?

Apparently he went out to get some groceries.

The neighbor heard a crash.

Mr. Lamar wouldn't answer the knock, and so he called the paramedics. Is she all

right? Yeah, a few contusions, a couple of scrapes.

Dutton got here about 20 minutes ago with a translator demanding to talk to

of us.

Wonderful.

It's very simple.

I'm aware that my condition is such that there is no cure, none.

And I want to end it.

I want to die.

I want to make certain you thoroughly understand your medical condition.

I know my condition.

I have cancer.

Lung cancer.

And it spread through my system.

I've been under treatment for the last 14 months.

Radiation, chemo, all of it.

Are you aware there are other procedures we can try?

I know that.

But that'll only delay the inevitable for, what, just a few more months of

And I want no part of it.

Dr. Sloan is just trying to help.

We like having you around.

You're very sweet, but I don't want to hear anymore.

I intend not to eat any longer, and I will not allow anyone to supply me with

fluids.

I want to die.

Now.

Mr. Dutton, you do realize that there are other treatments available to your

aunt. There's a chemo radiation combination from the National Institute.

There is a... Please don't. Look, I'm not trying to be difficult.

Neither am I.

But understand, people have always been trying to tell my Aunt Franny what to do

her whole life.

Because she's deaf.

Because she's stubborn.

And smart.

She knows what she wants.

She always has.

Look.

This is her living will.

And she's given me her power of attorney.

She, uh... She also wants a do -not -resuscitate order on her chart.

Mr. Dutton, Dr. Travis is trying to tell you the other things we can do for your

end. She doesn't want anything except to be left alone to die her way. But if

there's something else... Look, Mark, I'm with you on this medically, but a

living will does take precedent.

So does DNR.

All we can do is follow the patient's instructions.

I hope you realize what you're doing.

It's Aunt Franny doing this, Dr. Sloan, not me. That's what I've been trying to

tell you.

But you agree with her.

She's going to die.

One way or another.

There's no choice here.

And I hate that.

But I hate even more the idea of her being kept alive by a bunch of machines.

Please.

Leave her alone.

Let us do this her way.

How long do you think she has?

Well, without nutrients and fluids, about a week.

This is wrong.

Susan told me that Frances Lamar died this morning.

Yes, she did.

Dehydration and cachexia as a result of end -stage lung cancer, just like she

wanted it.

Took her four days to die.

Well, we had no choice legally.

But with that new radiation and chemo schedule, we could have had a chance.

A very slim chance, you know that.

And it is what she wanted.

I just hate giving up without a fight.

But it wasn't...

Our fight, the fight was hers.

I know we had to honor that, but I don't have to like it.

Dr. Travis?

Hi, I just heard about what happened.

I'm sorry, I don't... Your patient, Francis Lamar, I just want to

you on handling it in such a sensible way, even though I'm sure that was very

hard on you.

Excuse me.

Who was that?

It's Kate DeLeeb. She's the new attending. I don't know that much about

She knows about you.

Let's see, Frank.

You had your checkup just last week.

All your medications updated.

Your next appointment's Friday the 14th. You're three days early.

Is there something you want me to do for you?

Look, Dr. Sloan, I'm a very tough man.

At least.

I was CEO of my own corporation until I got hit with this Lou Gehrig's disease.

And I wasn't even a Yankee fan.

I know, Frank.

Whenever I had to make a tough decision in business, I always did my own

research.

I did this time, too.

Looked it up in dozens of reference books.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

I know exactly what stage I'm at.

Where it's going.

I'm going to lose all muscle, which I don't have much of now anyway.

But then I lose speech.

And then increasing pain until finally I strangle to death on my own spit.

Am I wrong, Doctor?

Am I?

I am here today to ask you to help me to do the only sensible thing.

I'm suffering, Mark.

I want you to help me to end it.

Lois, how do you feel about this?

I think that's Frank's decision if he wants to go.

I can't believe you want to give up now after all you've been through.

It wasn't exactly a snap decision.

No, no, of course not. You did your research.

You thought about it and you discussed it.

And you decided to let it beat you.

All I need from you is a prescription for something.

Morphine, anything.

Hell, you're the doctor. You should know. Oh, yeah, I know. All right.

I also know if you're half the tough businessman you say you are, you'll

this. And do what?

Jump out of a window?

Off a bridge, maybe?

I can't even go to the bathroom without help.

Maybe I should starve myself to death.

No, no.

You find a way to make the quality of your remaining time as good as possible.

For you and for Lois. There is no quality.

There's no way to fight this.

I want it to end.

And I don't want Lois doing anything.

I don't want her in any trouble after I'm gone.

I want it done quick, neat, and painless.

Will you help me?

Or won't you?

All right.

I'll find someone who will.

Lois.

Get me the hell out of here.

You sent for me, Mr. Lomax?

Harold, please, call me Harold. You sent for me, Harold.

You are a very senior staff member.

Very senior.

Is this about my retirement?

Retirement?

Oh, no, no. Thank God, Mark.

Do you know anything about a new attending physician, Kate DeLeeb?

Not really, no.

I've got some very disturbing material here.

About her?

From Oklahoma.

Seems she was involved in one of those assisted suicide cases.

In Oklahoma?

Didn't get the sort of publicity that these cases usually pile up, but...

You know, I've got it here somewhere.

The district attorney in Enid came close to an indictment on manslaughter or

something, but then they sort of dropped the whole thing because of the history

of indictments and trials like that.

Well, it's just our luck she turns up at community general.

Well, didn't you or your staff look into her professional record, her vita? I'm

looking into that, but that's not one of the questions we routinely ask. Have

you ever been indicted for manslaughter?

This is all we need, with the endowment drive coming up. A community general

doctor on the 7 o 'clock news for murder.

Well, you said she'd never been indicted.

I know.

Mark, you were on the sidelines with that deaf woman that starved herself to

death. But this is different.

Believe me.

What do you want me to do, Harold? Well, the hell of it is, we can't just

dismiss this Dr. DeLeeb without some reasonable cause. That would backfire.

Mark, I want you to sort of keep your eyes and your ears open.

God forbid anything should happen.

Okay. I'm connecting a small morphine drip here.

Just enough to cover the pain.

Okay.

All right, now, do you see this cord?

When it's pulled, the other medication will flow from here.

All right?

But it will only do so if you pull the cord.

Do you understand?

Yes.

All right. I think we should try it before I actually put the medication in.

I'm going to wrap this cord around your finger.

Let's see if you can pull it.

Very good.

All right.

Now, Frank, nothing will happen unless you want it to,

unless you pull that cord.

Do you understand?

Frank Dugan was a patient here at Community General.

He had advanced Lou Gehrig's disease, and he was a patient of your father's.

I assume you notified Dad.

Yeah, right after I paged him.

What about a preliminary autopsy? I ordered a full talk screen. So far, I

morphine in his system.

An overdose?

Doesn't look like it. I found a sedative and a long -acting muscle relaxant.

If the dosages were high enough, it was probably that mixture that killed him.

I have the vial and the tubing we found sent over so you can check it out.

Is that him?

Mm -hmm.

He wanted to die.

Asked me to help him. You didn't.

Of course not.

What was it?

Morphine, sedative, and muscle relaxant. IV needle was still attached.

You know, I can't believe he actually did that to himself.

He didn't.

Looks like he had help. He found one of those suicide machines on the table next

to him.

His wife?

I don't know.

I do know the gear, the tubing, the IV setup, and the reservoir came from

Community General.

Still had the labels on them.

One of our people.

Well, actually, the string that triggered the flow of drugs was attached

finger. And when you get right down to it, he must have done it himself.

Technically, that's right.

Well, technically, maybe.

Ethically, no.

Oh, oh, Dr. Sloan, if you hear about the pounding, I'm almost done. This is my

last... Frank Dugan was my patient.

Until he came to me.

And you killed him.

I was nowhere near Frank Dugan when he died.

He couldn't possibly have had access to the tubes or the needles, much less the

medication. You set up that equipment. You're responsible for his death.

It's not really much of an office, is it?

But then it's not really what happens in our offices that counts.

It's what happens in our treatment rooms, it's what happens in our wards.

dingy motels.

Oh.

Death can only occur in the pristine confines of a hospital.

No, of course not, but it could have happened in a home or a hospice. Or

with all those things beeping and flashing, and an entire staff dedicated

keeping an organism alive, that all common sense is it's dead.

How is that more dignified than what Frank Dugan chose?

You're condemning the entire medical profession.

Not at all. I am just condemning that part of it that's taken control of our

death away from us.

Frank Dugan wanted that control back. He came to you, he asked for help. You

refused, so... I didn't think he was in the right state of mind to make that

kind of decision.

What kind of frame of mind would you have wanted him to be in?

You see, you have wanted him. That's control.

Frank Dugan wanted to commit suicide. I have it on tape in his own voice.

So you caused him to die?

Whatever he did, he did himself.

Oh, and you merely supplied the means.

Doesn't that bother you, the medicine you practice causes death?

Okay, Dr.

Sloan, how long have you been a practicing physician? 35, 40 years?

Your point.

And in all that time, you have never seen a baby be delivered with just

birth defects that somebody just quietly let go.

Or a young man's respirator be turned off whose EEG just flatlined after a car

wreck. It's not the same thing. It's exactly the same thing.

And it's hard and it's painful for us. And it's simple and it's painless for

them.

You're going to keep doing this, aren't you?

I'm going to keep listening to my patients, yes.

Then I'm going to find a way to stop you.

Have a seat.

I really appreciate you coming down here.

Hope it wasn't too difficult for you.

No.

I am so sorry about what happened to Frank.

I really cared about him, about both of you.

Hope you know that.

I know, Mark.

And I'm sorry, too.

Sorry about the way he acted.

Angry.

It's that Lou Gehrig's disease.

I know.

He was so afraid of not being tough.

I think that's why he wanted you to help him do what he did.

It must have been so hard for you in that motel room, watching him get ready

die.

I know when my wife had cancer.

Never easy.

Kind of a burr, really.

Yes.

It's exactly like that. Kind of fuzzy.

Very confusing, too.

All that equipment and all the things that Dr. DeLeeb was setting up. The

I really didn't understand.

She was hastening Frank's death?

No.

I knew that that's what Frank wanted.

What he asked you for.

Only you said no.

Because I wanted him to live.

I wanted him to live, too.

Only I wanted him to be at peace more.

And so did she.

Dr. Jolene.

Well, I guess probably some help not having any regrets about what she did.

Oh, Mark, I have regrets.

I have regrets. I loved him.

I'll always wish that it hadn't happened.

That she hadn't intervened? That he hadn't gotten sick.

You know, the truth is, as much as I hated what Frank felt he had to do, I

Kate to leave for having the courage to help him.

Nurse, I need your assistance.

I'm an ER nurse, not ITU.

You're an employee of this hospital, aren't you? Yes.

Well, then when an attending physician gives an order, you carry it out, no

matter what service you're on. You're not Mr.

Goodman's attending. Dr.

Joseph's is.

Well, I got a call from his daughter this morning. She wants me to take over

case. And she has the power of attorney, unless you're questioning that as well.

No, doctor.

Good.

Now, it looks like Mr.

Goodman has been receiving plasmapheresis, treatment which hasn't

effective. But he's only been here two days.

The last time his Guillain -Barre led to paralysis, it took him a while to

respond, but he did.

And he walked out of here.

I want you to remove Mr. Goodman's plasmapheresis catheter, and I want you

prepare him for discharge.

His daughter wants him to spend the rest of his time at home with her.

Paralyzed?

I'll have to notify Dr.

Josephs.

I am Mr.

Goodman's physician of record.

My orders are in this chart, and unless you want me to pay a little visit to the

nursing administrator, I suggest you carry them out.

I don't know what you want me to do, Dad.

I want you to find a way to arrest Kate to leave her murder.

Mark, you know I had to rule that as a suicide.

She supplied Frank Dugan with materials and the means to kill himself. Now,

that's got to be murder on some level.

Not an illegal one.

Should be.

Look, the D .A. is keeping an eye on her. I will, too.

It's a start.

You know, maybe we can help.

How? By keeping a close watch at that hospital. If she inquires about or

approaches any seriously ill patient, we call Steve.

All right, I'll discuss it with Jesse and the rest of the staff.

Good. We have to stop her before she kills somebody else.

I'll be in touch.

Amanda's headed back to the hospital.

She'll call if anything comes up.

Good.

Won't take long.

Kate DeLeeb's on a crusade. We'll get her.

You know, I'm a little confused here.

What, about going after a killer?

How about you?

We've dealt with a lot of killers over the years, but I don't ever remember you

being this angry about one.

You know, she asked me the other day if I had ever let a patient die.

And what did you answer?

I didn't.

But the truth is, I have.

All doctors have.

Those decisions come with a job.

But there was this one case over 40 years ago.

I was just out of residency.

83 -year -old woman in extreme dementia.

Didn't call it Alzheimer's in those days.

And in terrible pain.

Undiagnosed tumor, probably.

Occasionally she had lucid moments.

And in one of them she said to me, let me go.

It's time.

It was your great -grandmother.

You never told me she was your patient. She wasn't.

She thought she was, of course. The whole family thought she was.

I guess I thought so, too.

What did you do?

I prescribed morphine for her pain.

A lot of it.

She lasted one more day.

No one ask anything?

No. Why should an 83 -year -old woman?

I don't believe this.

You know, I think your mother guessed.

Never said a word.

I thought I was being a good doctor.

Doing what was right for a suffering patient.

But the next morning when I woke up, I knew.

Just a killer.

He believed a killer, Steve.

I have got to stop her.

You understand?

Here they are.

These are the tapes I told you about.

These are the ones where you and your father discussed his wishes.

Yes, after the first time when he could talk again, we sat at the kitchen table.

He's a very gentle man, my father.

He didn't want anyone to have any trouble about this. Not me.

Not you. I'm someone like you.

Because it's his choice.

That's what he says on these.

For the record.

Yes. He made certain we put it all on tape, what he wanted to do.

But there is one thing.

From what I understand about how...

This work.

It's okay.

But he's paralyzed.

He can't pull his string. He won't be able to give himself the injection.

Don't worry.

It'll all be taken care of.

Hey, Penny.

Hey, Mark.

Yeah. Do you know a patient named David Goodman?

Oh, yeah, the one with Guillain -Barre syndrome.

Dr. Joseph's patient, right? Not anymore.

What? I went in to check on him earlier. Dr. DeLieve had taken over.

She had me get him ready for discharge.

I forgot to stop her. She already signed him out.

The last time he was here, Goodman and his daughter were talking about suicide.

Call Steve.

Tell him what's happened. Tell him to meet us at Goodman's and tell him to

hurry.

David, I need to ask you one more time if this is what you really want to

happen. If you want to die now.

You've so blinked twice.

We're looking for Dr. Kate DeLeeb.

What?

Where is she?

Dad? I paged you ten times and then left 20 messages on your answering machine.

Spent the afternoon with the district attorney.

I'm going to take the case to the grand jury by the end of the week.

We're going for murder one.

You think they'll get it?

It's open and shut. The lead was found with a murder weapon in her hand.

The syringe that completed the paralysis of the disease started?

We wanted to nail it for murder.

We nailed it.

But murder one implies a conscious premeditation of wrongdoing, doesn't it?

She brought the syringe and the drugs with her. How much more premeditation do

you want?

You know, I saw Dave Goodman at the hospital.

I thought you said he wasn't your patient.

Oh, he wasn't.

We all knew about him.

He was one of those rare cases of Guillain -Barre where the total

returned twice.

The man was only 62 years old.

Couldn't move, couldn't feed himself, couldn't speak.

But he could still think.

You're not saying to leave was right.

Oh, I was just thinking.

We'd gotten there five minutes early, and I'd been able to stop it.

What kind of a life and death would I be condemning him to?

You're thinking about my great -grandmother.

So you changed your mind about Kate Dilley.

She didn't commit murder after all.

No. No, that was murder. That one was definitely murder.

I have to appear in front of the grand jury.

Well, that must make you very happy, but you appear to be angry.

I don't like it when the medical profession and the legal profession get

up together. It confuses things.

Oh, well, they've been mixed up together since the time of Escalus. There's

always been limitations to the practice of medicine. Fortunately, now we're able

to do transplants.

I don't need a history lesson.

And I don't need your condescension.

So would you please leave my office and let me tear it down in peace?

Why are you doing this?

Because...

I feel that it's my duty as a physician to help my patients end their suffering.

But why take the next step? From assisted suicide... To active

murder.

Because there are some patients that are so physically weakened they can't pull

the cord themselves.

But their commitment to dying is just as strong.

And I'm not going to let a bunch of lawyers and outdated medical ethics

their way.

I told my son you're on a crusade.

It's not my crusade. It's my patients.

You broke the law.

The law needs to be changed.

I don't think this is about the law or about your patient.

I think it's personal. Something happened to you somewhere in your life,

this is your way of fighting back.

Oh, you mean like I had some parent who died some long -suffering death, and I

don't want to see anybody else go through the same thing? Something like

Well, it's nice psychiatry, but it's wrong.

My father deserted us when I was a baby, and my mother is what they call

dysfunctional.

Anywhere I got, I got there on my own.

So you became a doctor so you could help other people in a way that you'd never

been helped.

Very good.

That still doesn't explain to me how you went from helping people live to

helping them die. I think that we've covered this.

Oh, yes, that's right. You want to help people regain control of their lives and

their deaths.

Yes. I don't think so.

I think you're imposing your definition of control on other people by... Telling

them what to do when they are at their most vulnerable.

When they're looking for someone, anyone to take over for them. That is not

what's happening here. You cannot control life by controlling death. It's

backwards.

And even if it weren't, yours is not the only way.

Frances Lamar chose to let her disease take its own course.

Well, that was difficult.

It was painful, hard to watch.

But she took control.

There's dignity in that. Well, what you did to David Goodman wasn't dignified.

It was...

Convenient.

But then I guess that's your definition of control, isn't it?

Well, there's some hell of a crusade you're on, Doctor.

So you would have condemned him to suffer?

That's what you want for your patients? That's what you want for yourself or

somebody that you love?

I mean, because if that's true, then that is one hell of a crusade, Doctor.

Which attorney are you representing, Keaton Lee?

Carl Blumenstein.

Does a lot of civil liberties cases.

I've run into him a few times.

He's a pretty good guy for a lawyer.

I never understood why a person's attorney isn't allowed to go in with

Well, it's supposed to keep the legalese down to a dull roar.

I know, but if the witness has to keep running out to talk to his or her

attorney, I mean... Yeah, I think if I was on the grand jury, I'd be annoyed.

What makes you think they're not?

Besides, the more she talks, the more likely she is to give the DA what he

needs.

Mr. Patterson, the point I am trying to make is that... Dr. DeLee, I am

conducting this hearing, and I would appreciate... Yes, but you're not

me... Give us all a lecture. You're here to answer questions, not deliver a

diatribe.

I would like the grand jury to note that you are not allowing... Doctor, I do

not want to have to take you before the judge for contempt. You are the one who

is showing contempt for Mr. Goodman.

All I'm trying to explain is that he expressed his desire over and over to

his suffering. Please. I have it all on tape in his own voice. And if there's

any subsequent trial, your defense counsel can present all the evidence you

want.

Now, you didn't answer my question.

I've forgotten it.

Then I'll refresh your memory.

Did you inject David Goodman with what you knew would be a fatal combination of

drugs?

Yes or no, it's a simple question.

Yes, I did, but I... Thank you. I have no further questions.

Ladies and gentlemen, the point we are making, the point which we will

with further testimony, is that this is not just another case of physician

-assisted suicide.

This is a case of physician murder.

The next witness you'll be hearing from is Amanda Bentley.

How long's the man been in there, anyway?

About 45 minutes.

They're probably going over all the autopsy reports.

Frank Dugan, maybe Francis Lamar.

Why, what has that got to do with this?

I was trying to establish a pattern.

Dr. Mark Sloan?

Now, you can come with me.

Dr. Sloan.

So that in the case of Frank Dugan, Dr. DeLeave took over your patient from you?

Yes.

He never told you he was changing doctors, though, did he?

No, but he was very angry with me when he left.

Was that because you refused to supply him with a lethal substance?

Apparently, yes.

Now, in the case of David Goodman... He was not my patient.

Yes, I know. What I want you to do is to describe exactly what you saw when you

and Lieutenant Sloan...

Broke into David Goodman's bedroom.

Mr. Goodman was on the bed.

There were no vital signs.

He was dead?

Yes. And where was Dr. DeLeeb?

Beside the bed.

And in her hand?

A syringe.

And what did you say?

I said, what did you give him?

And she indicated the vials.

These.

These vials? Yes.

We've already heard testimony from the assistant coroner that these contained a

muscle relaxant and a sedative.

The man was dead.

Dr. DeLeeb had the syringe in her hand, and when you said, what did you give

him, she indicated the vials.

So she admitted to you that she had performed the injection of what proved

the lethal drugs. Is that correct, Dr. Sloan?

Is that correct, sir?

Yes.

You? You are a physician of long experience and excellent reputation.

Your work on behalf of law enforcement is well known. Your outstanding record

service at community general is equally well known.

Considering your seniority and standing, I'd like to ask you one final question.

Would you have filled a syringe with a lethal substance and injected it into

David Goodman?

No.

A simple no.

I think it would be helpful to have on the record whether you have any further

ideas about Dr. Leib's actions.

I've only had one thought since David Goodman died.

One thought.

When my eyes are closed late at night, when I'm with patients, and go and let

go.

And that thought would be?

Ten years ago, there was a patient at the community general. Ten years and

months.

Your patient? No, not officially.

It was my wife, Catherine.

I was aware of the spread of her cancer and how the radiation chemotherapy were

giving her pain, but with no appreciable benefit.

I would sit with her for hours, just watching her suffer.

And one thought kept coming to my mind, the thought that I had it within my

power to end that pain, that I could get rid of the torture that standard

medical procedure had put her through for the last two years.

Two years.

But I couldn't.

Not that it wasn't possible. There were many, many ways I could have done it.

So why didn't I?

Perhaps I was too close to be rational.

Maybe it was because I was afraid, frightened by guilt, insecurity,

or, God forgive me, just selfish concern for my own professional reputation.

Whatever the reason, I did nothing.

I sat.

for three months and watched her die in agony.

As for my thought that won't let me go,

it is that Kate DeLeeb may be

more honest and more courageous than I am.

How'd it go?

You all right?

See, there's something I have to tell you.

I should have told you ten years ago.

Grand jury ruling just came out.

Well, it's about time. It's been four days.

Five. They had a lot to argue about.

I don't think you made it any easier for them. Why, what happened?

Second -degree manslaughter.

That way they don't have to prove criminal intent.

Oh. Is the trial date set yet?

No, but I'll be talking to the DA. I'll let you know.

Dad, I've been thinking about Mom.

A lot.

I want you to know it's okay.

Dr. Sloan? Yes?

I forgot to turn in my badge.

I'm sorry about what happened with your wife.

I know the grand jury testimony is supposed to be sealed, but the lawyers

way of finding things out. Yes, they do.

Something I can help you with, Doctor?

I want you to be on my witness list for the trial.

Why?

I don't approve of what you do, and I wouldn't lie about it. Well, no, I don't

want you to do that, but at least you can tell the jury that I'm honest about

what I do.

That you're not doing it for the publicity.

I want the way we treat dying patients to change.

I don't care if they cover it or not.

You know, I'm not so sure that this is the way to make the changes you want.

But you seem to have conflicting emotions.

Yes. Yes, I do.

But you know that many patients who are terminally ill fall into severe

depression. And it's the depression demanding the suicide, not the person.

That's why I need to be so careful when I screen my patients.

But it should not be left up to a single doctor.

But if we're going to make this step as a profession, we must have second

opinions. We must have peer reviews.

We must have a waiting period.

That sounds like a crusade.

All right.

I'll be on your witness list.

But you might not like what I have to say.

Well, as long as you tell the truth, I'll like what you have to say.

Even if it helps conviction?

No, that's up to the jury, not us.

See you in court.

If you were on the jury, how would you vote?