Ave Hippocrates

Cast (in order of speaking roles):

Peter Hertz, a terminally ill patient

Clara Hertz [voice only], Peter’s late wife

Dr. Medici, a well-respected doctor

Alexander Martin, a skilled prosecutor

The Honorable Judge Turner, a judge

Lewis Meeks, a nervous defense attorney

A Foreman

Scene 1: A hospital room

[Scene: A very homey hospital room, clearly for a long stays. Near the bed is one small window,
closed but filling the room with light. There is the general sterilized look of the hospital, but it is
muted by peaceful decorations, comfortable chairs, and tasteful flowers on an end table. There is
one patient in the room, an elderly man of about eighty connected to an Intravenous drip and a
resuscitator. He is laying flat on the bed with his arms folded across his chest, almost as if he is
in a coffin except his tired eyes staring blankly at the ceiling: he seems defeated. On a table next
to the bed lies a yellowed piece of paper and a very old wedding picture. The only sound is the
gentle beep of the EKG and the labored breath of the old man.]

The window suddenly bursts open with a great gust of wind that ruffles the curtains. The man is
startled out of his stupor and looks quickly at the window. The original gust subsides, but a
gentle breeze continues to flow into the room, moving the curtains. The man sighs and reaches
slowly for the paper on his table. The table is placed so that he can reach it easily, but he makes
short, deliberate movements, slowly moving the cords he is connected to. His trembling hands
finally reach the paper and he brings it to his lap, still lying completely flat on the bed. He
glances at the window, before staring at the paper.

Clara’s voice: [as if writing the letter, from years ago] Peter – This is likely to be the last thing I
say to you. As you will find out or already know, I had an accident at Mother’s during my visit.
They will come in to bring me to surgery any minute. I want you to know I have loved you and
always will. The years we spent together were the best of my life. Be strong for our little Agnes.
I love you. Clara, December 14, 1982.
Peter sighs softly and places the letter back on the table. He stares at the ceiling for a while
longer, close to tears. Suddenly, his face becomes resolute. He sits up a little bit, looking around
at the cords that keep him alive.

Peter: [with an air of finality] It is time.

Peter stares out the window with a sad smile on his face, watching the curtains flutter in the
wind. In walks Dr. Medici, a very serious looking man of about 50 in well kept scrubs. His
demeanor suggests that he is very practiced in what he is doing. He stops, looking at Peter and
then the window.

Dr. Medici: Ah, let me fix that…

He walks over and closes the window. Peter is broken from his trance and looks directly at Dr.
Medici.

Peter: [apprehensively] Well?

Dr. Medici: [slowly, calculated] I will tell it to you straight, Mr. Hertz. It doesn’t look good. Do
you have any next of kin you would like me to contact?

Peter: [glancing absent-mindedly at the portrait on his end table] No. I am all alone. Doctor,
how much time do I have?

Dr. Medici: [taken aback by Peter’s frankness, then remembering himself, returns to his former
poise] About 2 months. I’m sorry, Mr. Hertz. We will do everything we can to make your final
days as comfortable as possible.

Peter: [getting angry] Do you think I want to live out my days in agony connected to all this?
[indicating the equipment used to keep him alive]

Dr. Medici: I’m so sorry, Mr. Hertz. There is really nothing we can do.

Peter: I’ve already made up my mind. I decided before you came in here if you said there was
nothing left to do, I want to take matters into my own hands.

Dr. Medici: [not understanding] Mr. Hertz…

Peter: I want to die, Dr. Medici. I am asking for your help that I might pass peacefully and on my
own terms.

Dr. Medici: [not entirely convinced that his own words saying are true] What you are describing
is illegal and immoral.

Peter: Immoral? Immoral to decide when I die if it is to happen anyway? Immoral to want to
control my own destiny?
Dr. Medici: Be that as it may, Mr. Hertz, such action is illegal here in Alabama. If you lived in
Oregon or the Netherlands, that might be an option. How can I consent to this? What if I lose my
practice?

Peter: How can you not? I am a patient who comes to you in a time of need. I know I will die. I
am not too cowardly to say it. And I refuse to live out such an agonizing existence for two
months.

Dr. Medici: [grasping for something] I took a Hippocratic oath, saying I would…

Peter: [finishing the phrase] “Do no harm!” Is this not harm? [He indicates the cords around
him.] Are you so naïve to say that death is the only harm? My life is worse. I know it. I have
been through horrible things in my life, doctor. Horrible things. But I have always wanted to
continue, push on. Now I know I have lived my life. My time has come. I have accepted fate.

Dr. Medici: [pacing] But the legality…

Peter: [angry] Please! [pause, then pleadingly] Please, doctor. I trust you. I know what you say
is true. I cannot do this alone. I need your help so I can pass quickly and painlessly. [pause] Do I
look like a man who is capricious or misunderstands his whim? [gaining momentum] Does
anyone deserve this fate? Will you not help me, you physician? [screaming] My God, I want to
die!

Silence. During Peter’s speech, Dr. Medici began slowly walking backward, and subsequently
falls into a chair. They stare at each other, Peter on the verge of tears, Dr. Medici looking at him
in shock and horror, which eventually melds into care and compassion. He walks over very
slowly and sits next to Peter, as a friend, not as a superior.

Dr. Medici: [very politely] Are you a religious man, Mr. Hertz?

Peter absentmindedly glances at the window. He did not want to talk about his spirituality, but
once he gets going he becomes more comfortable. He is very calm, very collected. He knows his
choice and sticks to it.

Peter: My wife died unexpectedly thirty years ago. She was shot down the prime of her life. I
think about her every day. When she died, I blamed everyone, including God. How could he do
this? But then I came to terms with him, I think most people do. People live and people die,
doctor. Just because we don’t like it and don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s not God’s will.
[Pause . Both sit in thought. Peter glances at the window once more before speaking] To answer
your question, yes, I am a religious man. But God gives us choices, and here I have a choice. If
he wanted me to live in pain, I would live in pain. He doesn’t. Not when I can do something
about it. Not when I have nothing left but the right to pass softly. [Pause. Quietly, with a sense of
finality] It is the only way, doctor.
Pause. They stare at each other

Dr. Medici: So that is it?

Peter: Yes.

Dr. Medici: As you will. May God have mercy on me.

He briskly walks over to a locked cabinet, takes out a key, opens it, and extracts a small vial. He
takes a syringe from the table and sucks up the contents. He walks over to Peter.

Dr. Medici: Now?

Peter: Yes.

Dr. Medici puts the syringe into his IV drip.

Peter: [softly] Thank you.

Dr. Medici nods. Peter slowly closes his eyes and his head falls to the side, unmistakably dead,
but clearly painlessly. Dr. Medici kneels by his bed for a time, a few silent tears coming down his
face.

End Scene.

Scene 2: A courtroom

[A brightly lit courtroom of very serious tone. The judge is a fat, balding, white man sitting high
on his throne. Dr. Medici looks very scared beside his attorney Mr. Meeks, a young blonde man
in his 30s dressed in a very expensive suit. Mr. Meeks is nervous but a competent lawyer and
eloquent speaker. The crowd is full and the room is hot; women are fanning themselves and men
look itchy in their Sunday best. But this is an important trial, so they are obliged to come. The
prosecutor, dressed as Mr. Meeks but with more poise, is speaking directly to the jury as the
curtain opens.]

Mr. Martin: Furthermore, I intend to prove that Dr. Medici is not only guilty of a sin none of us
could commit, but of murder in the first degree, a crime punishable by death.

He sits down. The judge looks at Mr. Meeks with contempt, clearly showing a body-language
bias for the prosecution. He waits for Mr. Meeks to begin.

Honorable Turner: [in a thick Southern drawl] Well, Mr. Meeks?

Mr. Meeks: [gathering his thoughts] Yes of course. [with great pathos] Ladies and Gentlemen of
the Jury, this is a simple trial of a man fulfilling his own wishes to die. My client did nothing
wrong, save for help an old man find eternal peace. [with a businesslike switch to logos
persuasion] In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in Gonzalez v Oregon that the Attorney General
cannot withhold medication for performing euthanasia, effectively legitimizing this practice.
While it is true that we live in Alabama and not Oregon under the protection of the Death with
Dignity law, it is also true that equating what Dr. Medici did to murder is not only ridiculous, but
cannot hold up under common law. The Supreme Court has recognized the right of a person to
take their own life, so this is not a practice that can be criminalized. My client merely presented
his patient with the relevant facts and then was asked, unprovoked, by the patient for medical
assistance. Mr. Her–

Mr. Martin: [interrupting, in disgust] Medical assistance! You call killing someone medical
assistance?

Mr. Meeks: We cannot look at this in such binary terms. It is more than a question of just life or
death. Mr. Hertz decided on his own free will that his quality of life was insufficient and wanted
control of his own demise. Maybe this is not a choice many of us would take, but it is impossible
to say what any of us would do, in such great pain with the prospect of dying in two months.
This is a decision not to be made by this or any court, but by a terminally-ill patient. Only they
can make this difficult, ethical choice. Subsequently, no court has ever illegalized suicide.

Mr. Martin: Be that as it may, that is not what happened here. Suicide is one thing, but Mr. Hertz
did not kill himself. That man [indicating Dr. Medici] stuck a needle of cyanide in Mr. Hertz’s
arm!

General hysteria in the courtroom. Dr. Medici shrinks in his chair, not wanting to seem proud of
what he has done.

Mr. Martin: You, Dr. Medici, took a Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.” How can you justify
killing a person, even if it is their will? Are we allowed to do anything just because it is
someone’s will? Was it not you who told Mr. Hertz that he had only a few months to live? Was
his decision not based on your own analysis of the situation?

Mr. Meeks: [with contempt] My client is a well-respected physician in his field. His analysis of
the situation was considered with its due gravity. He upheld his oath as a doctor; he could not
morally allow this patient to suffer if the patient wanted it to end. You cannot deny a person his
basic rights; if a person has the right to life he has the right to death.

Mr. Martin: But this is a slippery slope. Today, we allow Dr. Medici to squeak through because,
[almost sarcastically] after all, he had Mr. Hertz’s best wishes at heart. What about tomorrow,
when a doctor convinces a patient to consent to euthanasia for “their best intentions?” Is it too
farfetched to imagine a doctor taking the matter into his own hands and deciding what is best for
a patient? Where do we draw the line? I’ll tell you. We do not allow medical practitioners to kill.
It is quite simple.

Mr. Meeks: [grasping for something] This court’s role is not to prevent further crime, but to pass
judgment on this one.
Mr. Martin: [condescendingly] This court’s role is uphold the laws of this state! [matter-of-
factly] The point is, Dr. Medici violated not only the law and but human life. We hold nothing
more sacred, and his actions desecrated both of them.

Mr. Meeks is silent. It is a combination of his nervousness and his agreement with Mr. Martin.
He freezes, unable to help Dr. Medici.

Dr. Medici: [quietly, to Mr. Meeks] Is that it?

A silence permeates the room. Everyone is staring at the judge, who is staring at Mr. Meeks.

Honorable Judge Turner: Is that all, sirs? [The lawyers nod, Mr. Martin smiling and Mr. Meeks
frowning] Has the jury reached a verdict?

Silence

Foreman: We find the defendant, Dr. Medici, guilty of Murder in the First Degree.

All the while, Dr. Medici has kept silent but wanted to scream out. He was dehumanized by the
trial. He sunk his head lower and lower in shame throughout the trial. Suddenly, he picks his
head up, a look of extreme anger on his face.

Dr. Medici: [in a violent outbreak] The murderer here is you! I kill out of love, you kill out of
disgust. You will never know what Mr. Hertz was feeling. You could never look into his eyes and
deny what he so rightfully deserved! Kill me if you must, but I would do it again. What is death?
Why are we all so afraid? Do we think ourselves above fate? I am Mr. Hertz; I am ready to die.

During his speech, the jury, judge, lawyers, and crowd slowly exit the courtroom, showing that
Dr. Medici is already dead, that no one can hear him. His cries fall to a deaf courtroom, and
indeed to a deaf society.

End Scene

Scene 3: The Execution Room.

[Scene: A completely dark stage. In the middle of the stage, the electric chair sits, illuminated by
a single spotlight]

Scuffling is heard as two men walk in with Dr. Medici, barely seen for the lack of light. When
they enter the light of the spotlight, we see Dr. Medici for the first time. He is no longer in his
scrubs and he looks defeated. He stares fixedly in front of him. He does not struggle with the men
hold him; but he is stiff and they must physically push him into the chair and strap him in. All the
while Dr. Medici stares at one spot in the distance. The men finish strapping him in and walk
into the darkness. Dr. Medici opens his mouth, and freezes, motionless. A long pause. Suddenly…
Dr. Medici: [à la Gladiators hailing Caesar, screaming] Ave Hippocrates! Morituri te salutamus!

He holds his head held high in anticipation, his face contorted in concentration and anger. The
light turns out.

End Scene

A few points.

Firstly, I realize that it is unlikely that a person would be given capital punishment for
euthanasia. I wanted to point out the inherent contradiction in the state’s ability to kill a person
but a person’s lack of the right to die.

For the sake of unity of time, I rushed the euthanasia process in the first scene. In actuality, Dr.
Medici should have received requests in writing and verbal with a witness, and then the
diagnosis should have been verified by another doctor. However, if all this were to happen it
would take away from the logical flow of the play.

Because of this, I was not able to focus on the problem of regulating Euthanasia, since Dr.
Medici clearly did not follow any regulations during the course of the play. My play is more
focused on the philosophical dilemma of euthanasia. Clearly the practical regulation has a part in
this ethical issue, but it was not the focus of the work.

On the same note, in scene 2, I am aware that I did not follow traditional court proceedings, for
much the same reason. Following jurisprudence here would have detracted from the argument
between the lawyers, exemplifying the debate on euthanasia. For instance, the jury did not
deliberate and the trial was merely a discussion between Mr. Martin and Mr. Meeks. Also, Dr.
Medici did not take the stand to testify. I mostly did this to show the indifference of society to his
plight and how his murdering Peter was much more compassionate than his own punishment.
His final outbreak, tragically, falls to deaf ears.

I tried to further this comparison by the structure of the play itself. Scene 1 was much more
personal, with a clear connection growing between Dr. Medici and Mr. Hertz. However, in Scene
2, the debate is taken up by the lawyers, without any personal connection or opinions from Dr.
Medici.

The final line of the play is an allusion to “Ave Caesar! Morituri te salatamus!” meaning “Hail
Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!” Gladiators ironically said this phrase before their
deaths. Dr. Medici is hailing Hippocrates, who wrote the Hippocratic Oath, the code referenced
throughout that doctors pledge to uphold. Dr. Medici believes that he is following what
Hippocrates would have wanted. The ultimate care to be given to a patient is to accept the ugly
truth of death and allow a patient to pass peacefully. It was ironic that Caesar is partly
responsible for their death just as it is ironic that Dr. Medici, by some interpretations, broke the
Hippocratic Oath.