Diagnosis Murder (1993–2001): Season 6, Episode 22 - Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of My Life - full transcript
Mark Sloan attempts to have a new doctor arrested for murder after she helps a pair of terminally ill patients commit suicide.
Well, she was admitted
through the E.R.
a couple of hours ago.
I thought her nephew
was staying with her.
Why didn't he bring her in?
Apparently, we went out
to get some groceries,
uh, the neighbor heard a crash,
Miss Lamar wouldn't
answer the knock,
and so he called the paramedics.
Oh. 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 both 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's 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 will only
delay the inevitable.
For what? Just a few
more months of pain.
And I want no part of it.
Dr. Sloan is just trying
to help.
We like having you around.
You are very sweet,
but I don't want
to hear any more.
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-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 aunt.
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.
And so does D.N.R.
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.
Hey. 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.
But I just hate
giving up without a fight.
But it wasn't our fight.
The fight was hers.
Oh, I know we had to honor that,
but I don't have to like it.
Dr. Travis?
Hi. I... I just heard
about what happened.
I'm sorry, I don't...
Your patient... Frances Lamar?
Um, I just want
to congratulate you
on handling it
in such a sensible way
even though I'm... I'm sure
that was very hard on you.
Excuse me.
Who was that?
- That's, uh...
- Kate Delibe.
She's the new attending.
I don't know that
much about her.
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 wanted me to do for you?
Look, Dr. Sloan,
I'm a very tough man.
At least, I was.
C.E.O. 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? Hmm?
Am I?
Okay,
that's why I'm 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...
Frank, 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 rethink 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 Delibe?
Not really, no.
I've got some very
disturbing material here.
About her?
Mm-hmm. From
Oklahoma.
Seems she was involved
in one of those
assisted suicide cases.
In Oklahoma?
It didn't get the sort
of publicity that these
cases usually pile up,
but... you know,
I've got it here...
somewhere.
The, uh, district attorney in
Enid came close to an indictment
on manslaughter
or... or something,
but then they sort of
dropped the whole thing
because of the history of
indictments and trials like that
and... well, 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 7:00 news for murder.
You said she's
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.
Well, what do you
want me to do, Harold?
The hell of it is,
we can't just dismiss
this Dr. Delibe 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?
Uh-huh.
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,
so 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?
Yes.
Thank you.
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 you.
What about a
preliminary autopsy?
I ordered a full tox screen.
So far I've found 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'll 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?
No, of course not.
What was it?
Here.
Morphine, sedative
and muscle relaxant.
The I.V. needle
was still attached.
You know, I can't believe
he actually did that to
himself.
He didn't...
It looks like he had help.
We 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 I.V. 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 to his 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're here
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.
Our dingy motels.
Ah. 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 here, with all those
things beeping and flashing
and an entire staff dedicated
to keeping an organism alive
that all common sense says
is 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 own deaths
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 lethal
birth defects
that somebody
just quietly let go?
Or a young man's respirator
be turned off
whose E.E.G. just flatlined
after a car wreck?
That'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
your 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.
I hope you know that.
I know, Mark.
And I'm sorry, too.
Sorry about the way
he acted... angry.
It was that
Lou Gehrig's disease.
Yeah, 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 to die.
I know when my
wife had cancer...
never easy...
kind of a blur, really.
Yes.
It's exactly like that.
Kind of... fuzzy.
Yeah. Could've been
very confusing, too...
All that equipment,
and all the things
that Dr. Delibe
was setting up...
the drugs...
I really didn't understand.
That 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. Delibe?
Well, I guess it
probably some helped
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 love Kate Delibe for having
the courage to help him.
Uh, nurse, I need
your assistance.
I'm an E.R. nurse,
not I.C.U.
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. Josephs is.
Well, I got a call from
his daughter this morning,
and she wants me to
take over the case.
But...
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...
A treatment which
hasn't been effective.
But he's only been here
two days.
The last time his Guillain-Barré
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 to 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 Delibe
for murder.
Mark, you know
I had to rule that as a suicide.
She supplied Frank Dugan
with the materials and the means
to kill himself.
Now, that's got to be murder
on some level.
Not on a legal 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. It won't take long.
Kate Delibe's on a crusade.
We'll get her.
You know, I'm a
little confused here.
What? About going
after a killer?
No. 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.
Yeah.
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 the job.
But there was
this one... case...
over 40 years ago.
I was just out of residency.
83-year-old woman
in extreme dementia...
They didn't call it
Alzheimer's in those days...
And in terrible pain...
undiagnosed...
a 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 that 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.
Well, no one asked anything?
No. Why should they?
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.
Kate Delibe's a killer, Steve.
I have got to stop her.
Do you understand?
Here they are.
These are the tapes
I told you about.
These are the ones where you
and your father
discuss 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...
or 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.
Uh, but there is one thing.
From what I understand
about how... this works...
It's okay.
But he's paralyzed.
He can't pull a string.
He-he won't be able
to give himself the injection.
Don't worry.
It'll all be taken care of.
Okay?
Okay.
It's time.
Hey, Mark?
Yeah?
Do you know a patient
named David Goodman?
Oh, yeah, the one with
Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Uh, Dr. Josephs' patient,
right?
Not anymore.
What?
I went in to check
on him earlier.
Dr. Delibe
had taken over.
She had me get him
ready for discharge.
We've got 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.
If so, blink twice.
All right.
We're looking for
Dr. Kate Delibe.
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.
They're going to take the case
to the, uh, grand jury
by the end of the week.
They're going for murder one.
Do you think they'll get it?
It's open and shut.
Delibe was found with the
murder weapon in her hand.
The syringe that
completed the paralysis
the disease started.
You wanted to nail
her for murder.
We nailed her.
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?
Yeah.
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-Barré
where the total paralysis
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
Delibe was right?
Oh, I was just thinking.
If 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 Delibe.
She didn't commit
murder after all.
No. No, that-that...
that was murder.
That one was definitely murder.
Come in.
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 mixed up together.
It confuses things.
Oh, well, they've been
mixed up together
since the time of Aeschylus.
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 euthanasia?
To 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-and-and I'm not going
to let a bunch of
lawyers and outdated
medical ethics stand
in 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 patients.
I think it's personal.
Something happened to you
somewhere in your life,
and this is your way
of fighting back.
Oh, you mean like I
had some-some parent
who died some long-
suffering death
and I don't want to
see anybody else go
through the same thing?
Something like that.
Well, it's
nice psychiatry,
but it's wrong.
My father deserted us
when I was a baby,
and my mother's 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 thin 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.
Oh, that was difficult.
It was painful...
hard to watch,
but she took control.
There's dignity in that.
But 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, that'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-or somebody that you love?
I mean, because if that's true,
then that is one hell
of a crusade, Doctor.
Do you know, uh, which attorney
is representing Kate Delibe?
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.
Hmm...
I never understood
why a person's attorney isn't
allowed to go in with them.
That'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 D.A.
what he needs.
Mr. Patterson,
the point I am trying
to make is that...
Dr. Delibe, I am
conducting this hearing,
and I would appreciate...
Yes, but you're not
letting 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 end 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
reinforce
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 Amanda been
in there, anyway?
About 45 minutes.
They're probably going over
all the autopsy reports...
Frank Dugan...
maybe Frances Lamar.
Why? What has that got
to do with this?
Trying to establish a pattern.
Dr. Mark Sloan?
Now?
You can come with me.
Dr. Sloan...
this way.
So that in the case
of Frank Dugan,
Dr. Delibe took over
your patient from you?
Yes.
Uh, he never told you he was
changing doctors, though,
did he?
Uh, 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.
Hmm...
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.
Uh, Mr. Goodman
was on the bed.
There were no vital signs.
He was dead?
Yes.
And where was Dr. Delibe?
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.
Hmm.
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. Delibe 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 to
be the lethal drugs.
Is that correct,
Dr. Sloan?
Is-is that correct, sir?
Yes.
You...
you're a physician
of long experience
and excellent reputation.
Your-your work
on behalf of law enforcement
is well-known.
Your outstanding record
of 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-I think it would be helpful
to have on the record
whether you have
any further ideas
about Dr.
Delibe'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 it won't let me go.
And that thought would be?
Ten years ago,
there was a patient
at-at, uh, Community General...
Ten years and, uh, three months.
Your patient?
No, not officially.
It was my wife, Kathryn.
I was aware of the spread
of her, uh, cancer
and how the, uh,
radiation and
chemotherapy
were giving her pain
but with no appreciable benefit.
I would sit with her
for... hours
just watching her suffer.
And, uh, 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, uh, the torture
that this 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?
Uh, perhaps I was too close, uh,
to be rational.
Maybe it was
because I was afraid...
frightened, uh,
by guilt, insecurity...
or, God forgive me,
just selfish concern
for my own
professional reputation.
Whatever the, uh, reason...
I did nothing.
I sat... for three months
and watched her die...
in agony.
As for my, uh, thought...
that won't let me go...
It is that Kate Delibe...
may be...
more honest
and more courageous than I am.
How'd it go?
You all right?
Steve, there's something
I have to tell you...
something I should have
told you ten years ago.
Dad...
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 D.A.
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.
Uh... I'm sorry
about what happened
with your wife.
I-I-I know
the grand jury testimony's
supposed to be sealed,
but, you know,
the lawyers have a 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.
I mean, if we're going
to make this step
as a... 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 convict you?
Well, that's up to the jury,
not us.
See you in court.
If you were on the jury...
how would you vote?
through the E.R.
a couple of hours ago.
I thought her nephew
was staying with her.
Why didn't he bring her in?
Apparently, we went out
to get some groceries,
uh, the neighbor heard a crash,
Miss Lamar wouldn't
answer the knock,
and so he called the paramedics.
Oh. 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 both 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's 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 will only
delay the inevitable.
For what? Just a few
more months of pain.
And I want no part of it.
Dr. Sloan is just trying
to help.
We like having you around.
You are very sweet,
but I don't want
to hear any more.
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-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 aunt.
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.
And so does D.N.R.
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.
Hey. 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.
But I just hate
giving up without a fight.
But it wasn't our fight.
The fight was hers.
Oh, I know we had to honor that,
but I don't have to like it.
Dr. Travis?
Hi. I... I just heard
about what happened.
I'm sorry, I don't...
Your patient... Frances Lamar?
Um, I just want
to congratulate you
on handling it
in such a sensible way
even though I'm... I'm sure
that was very hard on you.
Excuse me.
Who was that?
- That's, uh...
- Kate Delibe.
She's the new attending.
I don't know that
much about her.
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 wanted me to do for you?
Look, Dr. Sloan,
I'm a very tough man.
At least, I was.
C.E.O. 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? Hmm?
Am I?
Okay,
that's why I'm 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...
Frank, 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 rethink 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 Delibe?
Not really, no.
I've got some very
disturbing material here.
About her?
Mm-hmm. From
Oklahoma.
Seems she was involved
in one of those
assisted suicide cases.
In Oklahoma?
It didn't get the sort
of publicity that these
cases usually pile up,
but... you know,
I've got it here...
somewhere.
The, uh, district attorney in
Enid came close to an indictment
on manslaughter
or... or something,
but then they sort of
dropped the whole thing
because of the history of
indictments and trials like that
and... well, 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 7:00 news for murder.
You said she's
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.
Well, what do you
want me to do, Harold?
The hell of it is,
we can't just dismiss
this Dr. Delibe 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?
Uh-huh.
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,
so 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?
Yes.
Thank you.
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 you.
What about a
preliminary autopsy?
I ordered a full tox screen.
So far I've found 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'll 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?
No, of course not.
What was it?
Here.
Morphine, sedative
and muscle relaxant.
The I.V. needle
was still attached.
You know, I can't believe
he actually did that to
himself.
He didn't...
It looks like he had help.
We 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 I.V. 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 to his 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're here
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.
Our dingy motels.
Ah. 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 here, with all those
things beeping and flashing
and an entire staff dedicated
to keeping an organism alive
that all common sense says
is 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 own deaths
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 lethal
birth defects
that somebody
just quietly let go?
Or a young man's respirator
be turned off
whose E.E.G. just flatlined
after a car wreck?
That'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
your 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.
I hope you know that.
I know, Mark.
And I'm sorry, too.
Sorry about the way
he acted... angry.
It was that
Lou Gehrig's disease.
Yeah, 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 to die.
I know when my
wife had cancer...
never easy...
kind of a blur, really.
Yes.
It's exactly like that.
Kind of... fuzzy.
Yeah. Could've been
very confusing, too...
All that equipment,
and all the things
that Dr. Delibe
was setting up...
the drugs...
I really didn't understand.
That 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. Delibe?
Well, I guess it
probably some helped
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 love Kate Delibe for having
the courage to help him.
Uh, nurse, I need
your assistance.
I'm an E.R. nurse,
not I.C.U.
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. Josephs is.
Well, I got a call from
his daughter this morning,
and she wants me to
take over the case.
But...
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...
A treatment which
hasn't been effective.
But he's only been here
two days.
The last time his Guillain-Barré
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 to 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 Delibe
for murder.
Mark, you know
I had to rule that as a suicide.
She supplied Frank Dugan
with the materials and the means
to kill himself.
Now, that's got to be murder
on some level.
Not on a legal 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. It won't take long.
Kate Delibe's on a crusade.
We'll get her.
You know, I'm a
little confused here.
What? About going
after a killer?
No. 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.
Yeah.
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 the job.
But there was
this one... case...
over 40 years ago.
I was just out of residency.
83-year-old woman
in extreme dementia...
They didn't call it
Alzheimer's in those days...
And in terrible pain...
undiagnosed...
a 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 that 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.
Well, no one asked anything?
No. Why should they?
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.
Kate Delibe's a killer, Steve.
I have got to stop her.
Do you understand?
Here they are.
These are the tapes
I told you about.
These are the ones where you
and your father
discuss 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...
or 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.
Uh, but there is one thing.
From what I understand
about how... this works...
It's okay.
But he's paralyzed.
He can't pull a string.
He-he won't be able
to give himself the injection.
Don't worry.
It'll all be taken care of.
Okay?
Okay.
It's time.
Hey, Mark?
Yeah?
Do you know a patient
named David Goodman?
Oh, yeah, the one with
Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Uh, Dr. Josephs' patient,
right?
Not anymore.
What?
I went in to check
on him earlier.
Dr. Delibe
had taken over.
She had me get him
ready for discharge.
We've got 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.
If so, blink twice.
All right.
We're looking for
Dr. Kate Delibe.
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.
They're going to take the case
to the, uh, grand jury
by the end of the week.
They're going for murder one.
Do you think they'll get it?
It's open and shut.
Delibe was found with the
murder weapon in her hand.
The syringe that
completed the paralysis
the disease started.
You wanted to nail
her for murder.
We nailed her.
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?
Yeah.
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-Barré
where the total paralysis
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
Delibe was right?
Oh, I was just thinking.
If 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 Delibe.
She didn't commit
murder after all.
No. No, that-that...
that was murder.
That one was definitely murder.
Come in.
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 mixed up together.
It confuses things.
Oh, well, they've been
mixed up together
since the time of Aeschylus.
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 euthanasia?
To 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-and-and I'm not going
to let a bunch of
lawyers and outdated
medical ethics stand
in 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 patients.
I think it's personal.
Something happened to you
somewhere in your life,
and this is your way
of fighting back.
Oh, you mean like I
had some-some parent
who died some long-
suffering death
and I don't want to
see anybody else go
through the same thing?
Something like that.
Well, it's
nice psychiatry,
but it's wrong.
My father deserted us
when I was a baby,
and my mother's 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 thin 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.
Oh, that was difficult.
It was painful...
hard to watch,
but she took control.
There's dignity in that.
But 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, that'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-or somebody that you love?
I mean, because if that's true,
then that is one hell
of a crusade, Doctor.
Do you know, uh, which attorney
is representing Kate Delibe?
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.
Hmm...
I never understood
why a person's attorney isn't
allowed to go in with them.
That'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 D.A.
what he needs.
Mr. Patterson,
the point I am trying
to make is that...
Dr. Delibe, I am
conducting this hearing,
and I would appreciate...
Yes, but you're not
letting 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 end 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
reinforce
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 Amanda been
in there, anyway?
About 45 minutes.
They're probably going over
all the autopsy reports...
Frank Dugan...
maybe Frances Lamar.
Why? What has that got
to do with this?
Trying to establish a pattern.
Dr. Mark Sloan?
Now?
You can come with me.
Dr. Sloan...
this way.
So that in the case
of Frank Dugan,
Dr. Delibe took over
your patient from you?
Yes.
Uh, he never told you he was
changing doctors, though,
did he?
Uh, 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.
Hmm...
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.
Uh, Mr. Goodman
was on the bed.
There were no vital signs.
He was dead?
Yes.
And where was Dr. Delibe?
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.
Hmm.
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. Delibe 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 to
be the lethal drugs.
Is that correct,
Dr. Sloan?
Is-is that correct, sir?
Yes.
You...
you're a physician
of long experience
and excellent reputation.
Your-your work
on behalf of law enforcement
is well-known.
Your outstanding record
of 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-I think it would be helpful
to have on the record
whether you have
any further ideas
about Dr.
Delibe'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 it won't let me go.
And that thought would be?
Ten years ago,
there was a patient
at-at, uh, Community General...
Ten years and, uh, three months.
Your patient?
No, not officially.
It was my wife, Kathryn.
I was aware of the spread
of her, uh, cancer
and how the, uh,
radiation and
chemotherapy
were giving her pain
but with no appreciable benefit.
I would sit with her
for... hours
just watching her suffer.
And, uh, 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, uh, the torture
that this 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?
Uh, perhaps I was too close, uh,
to be rational.
Maybe it was
because I was afraid...
frightened, uh,
by guilt, insecurity...
or, God forgive me,
just selfish concern
for my own
professional reputation.
Whatever the, uh, reason...
I did nothing.
I sat... for three months
and watched her die...
in agony.
As for my, uh, thought...
that won't let me go...
It is that Kate Delibe...
may be...
more honest
and more courageous than I am.
How'd it go?
You all right?
Steve, there's something
I have to tell you...
something I should have
told you ten years ago.
Dad...
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 D.A.
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.
Uh... I'm sorry
about what happened
with your wife.
I-I-I know
the grand jury testimony's
supposed to be sealed,
but, you know,
the lawyers have a 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.
I mean, if we're going
to make this step
as a... 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 convict you?
Well, that's up to the jury,
not us.
See you in court.
If you were on the jury...
how would you vote?