A Michigan jury last month found Dr Jack Kevorkian guilty of second degree murder in the death of Thomas Youk, a 52 year old resident of Detroit who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Dr Kevorkian made a videotape of himself injecting Mr Youk, who was paralysed, with lethal chemicals last September. The tape was broadcast in November by the CBS News programme 60 Minutes.
At his trial, Dr Kevorkian failed to convince the judge that his proposed witnesses, Mr Youk's wife and brother, were relevant to the defence. Aside from the videotape which showed how much Mr Youk was suffering while he was alive, no testimony was presented about Mr Youk's condition and his apparent desire to end his life.
Because Dr Kevorkian was charged with murder, Judge Jessica Cooper instructed the jury that the issue of whether Mr Youk consented to his death was irrelevant.
This was the fifth time in a decade that prosecutors had tried Dr Kevorkian in the death of a seriously ill person. Three trials ended in acquittal and a fourth ended in a mistrial. In all the previous cases, Dr Kevorkian had violated laws against assisted suicide by helping patients give themselves a fatal injection through a so called suicide machine.
In Mr Youk's case, Dr Kevorkian administered the fatal injection himself. Reaction to the verdict, and to the minimum sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison that Dr Kevorkian faces, was mixed.
The Hemlock Society, chief proponent of doctor assisted suicide said, "This verdict is not about Dr Kevorkian and the videotape. This verdict is about the contempt that the government has for people like Thomas Youk and other patients who are suffering painful deaths every day.
"This verdict is about the government's refusal to give dying patients and their families reasonable choices at the end of life."
However, nine disability rights organisations in the United States have opposed the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, a leading grassroots disability rights group, said that the euthanasia movement was "very threatening to a disabled person," and she hoped that Michigan's ban on assisted suicide would be maintained.
Dr Nancy W Dickey, president of the American Medical Association (AMA) said, "Patients in America can be relieved that the guilty verdict against Dr Jack Kevorkian helps protect them from those who would take their lives prematurely.
"The AMA remains committed to assuring patients' dignity, adequate relief of pain, and palliation of other symptoms during their final days. The AMA has long been a proponent of compassionate, quality care for dying patients. We will continue our efforts to teach physicians everything they should know about providing proper end of life care."