A doctor who lost his medical license last month for his role in six assisted suicides has appealed that decision, arguing that discussing suicide methods with the patients and holding their hands as they died did not constitute the practice of medicine.
Dr. Lawrence Egbert filed the appeal in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Thursday, according to court records.
The Maryland Board of Physicians said in a December order that Egbert, 87, violated professional standards and broke state law when he acted as an "exit guide" for six members of the Final Exit Network.
All of them died by filling a hood with helium and placing it over their heads while Egbert or another guide held their hands, partially to comfort them but also to ensure they did not twitch and knock off the mask, Egbert said.
Egbert had a role in six deaths in Maryland from 2004 to 2008, according to the board order. Egbert told The Baltimore Sun he was present for at least 15 in the state, and 100 nationwide. As medical director of the Final Exit Network, he approved the applications of some 300 people seeking to hasten their deaths.
Egbert is no longer active with the group.
He is awaiting trial in Minnesota on charges he assisted with a suicide there. He previously faced charges in Georgia, but they were dropped when an assisted-suicide law there was overturned. He stood trial in Arizona but was acquitted.
He has never been charged with any wrongdoing in Maryland. Prosecutors from across the state met to consider possible cases against him in 2009, but no charges were filed.
Egbert practiced as an anesthesiologist until he retired. He now works as an expert witness in immigration court in cases in which migrants are seeking asylum from the threat of torture, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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