lemon. sanjay gupta md starts right now. hi there. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. you know, we've all known people who suffered with a long-lasting illness. maybe they're even suffering now. some have wondered and it's tough to talk about but if it were me is there ever a point where i'd want to end that suffering? we're talking about assisted suicide and it's only legal strictly speaking in two states -- washington and oregon. that leaves a lot of desperate people who struggle with painful conditions. now, one group has made it a mission to try and ease that misery but as i found out in my exclusive investigation some families and law enforcement now think they've gone too far. when jana vanbury passed away she didn't leave much behind. >> this is pretty much jana's life. an old book of her medical history, doctors, hospitals, labs, prescriptions. >> reporter: this is jana's older sister vicky. she and her husband tom live in the same phoenix neighborhood as jana did. they saw her suffer. while jana had trouble most of her life, it had become progressively worse. >> she just -- it was just very tough for her daily. she took lots of different medicines to make her feel better. >> did she ever complain of physical pain? >> all the time. she thought she was seriously ill. >> and then vicky got a troubling call one day. a woman who said she was a friend of jana's from church. >> and she said to me you know how jana is always sick? we're very worried about her because we can't get ahold of her. so i called her and didn't get an answer. and then i waited until the next day and called and didn't get an answer. and then we decided, well maybe we should go check and see what's happening. >> it was here at jana's house that tom and vicky discovered the worst. they got a spare key, entered the home, and then found jana lying in her bed. it was shortly thereafter that they suspected foul play. >> i think when we're going through her belongings, there were a couple things we found. one was a brochure of the final exit network. >> in jana's checkbook another important clue. on february 13th, 2007, final membership fees, $50. but what was final exit? online they found this website. it says the final exit network serves members in all 50 states who are suffering from intolerable medical circumstances, are mentally competent, want to end their lives, and meet our official written criteria. and suddenly it all made sense. that's when tom and vicky realized that jana had gotten help to kill herself. i went to meet dr. lawrence eggbert. he's the man who approved jana's request to die. he's a retired anesthesiologist and he was final exit's medical director at the time of jana's death. 84 years old, he's friendly, charming, disarming. he doesn't own a cell phone or a car and he is passionate about this cause. >> a lot of people think of this as saints it's such a good idea. >> according to final exit's records these saints as he calls them helped hundreds of people to, quote, hasten death. by his own account when he was director eggbert approved about 300 final exit applicants. >> do people apply to the final exit? >> i can give you a telephone number if you want it. >> what would they say if i called them? >> they would say, i'll get your name and your telephone number and somebody will call you back in a few days. and that person would then call you back and ask you why. >> could you approve somebody without having met them? >> yes. i could. and say this is reasonable to proceed. >> if that all sounds unnerving, then also consider this. according to police reports, jana told final exit she had lesions on the liver, possible breast cancer, head injuries, removal of the gallbladder, over exposure to radiation, and ingestion of rat poison. >> did she have liver lesions? >> no. >> did she have breast cancer? >> no. >> did she have toxins from rats? >> no. >> did she have arsenic poisoning? >> no. >> did you know all of this when looking at her application? >> i had the same records they had. >> the problem is dr. eggbert took jana at her word. no doctor ever confirmed any of those physical ailments. jana certainly wasn't terminal, not even physically ill. and there was something else. in one of jana's last psychiatric evaluations her psychiatrist noted, this patient has become increasingly psychotic. on the last page jana's diagnosis, psychosis. her brother-in-law and sister said she had life-long issues with mental illness, which was relevant. they question the whole thing. did you question it given this mental instability? >> sure. >> wouldn't that be a big red flag? >> it's a red flag all right. the question is how big. it was very clear from her psychiatric notes all over the file that she had psychiatric problems and if i was uncomfortable with my ability to say or decide on that, i had psychiatric -- psychologists who i did not bother. >> no psychologists, no psychiatrists, no other doctors were consulted. still, again and again, eggbert told me he stood by his decision and he said final exit volunteers saw nothing wrong either. jana's exit guide as the group calls it was 87-year-old frank alex kangasn -- frank langsner who had known jana about a month before he went to her house and watched her die. >> she appeared to be competent. she did drive a car. she did, you know, go to the grocery store. she did keep a pretty good looking house, apartment, so that was my impression. so there was no question in my mind that if she wanted to go through with the event -- >> as an exit guy langsner says he is very careful not to give specific suicide instructions. >> and then they may have some questions about it. but we don't touch any materials or any equipment. so they're on their own. >> for jana, here's what the last few days of her life looked like. march 27th, 2007, she wrote a check out to party city for 64.84. she noted helium balloon kits. a few days later, she bought other supplies. i don't want to get too specific. ever get used to seeing it? you saw this a hundred times. >> the day i get used to it i will stop. whenchts breat >> when breathed in helium depletes the body of oxygen. dr. eggbert showed me how it all works. we've chosen not to show the details but to see it first hand even as a demonstration was disturbing. >> is it horrifying to you? because it's horrifying to me to just hear about it. >> yeah. >> i can't imagine being there. >> well, see, but you're not talking to a guy who's suffering with pain who is smiling and saying, thank you. thank you, doctor. >> langsner and one other guide were with jana on her final night. april 12th, 2007. >> she had new pajamas on and, once again, we ask many times, are you sure you want to do this? we're not encouraging you. we want to know that you really want to do this. and she said, yeah. let's do it. and that was it. >> it took approximately 15 minutes for jana to die. according to dr. eggbert, she did not experience any pain. it took months for phoenix investigators to file charges. under arizona law, assisting a suicide is manslaughter. last year langsner and eggbert were tried in connection to jana's death. jana's mental health was considered irrelevant by the court and it was excluded from the trial. eggbert was acquitted while langsner and two other final exit members pleaded guilty to lesser charges. what would you say to them if they were here? >> i would say to them bluntly they screwed up. i think they were so intent on what they were doing they just kind of put that aside and continued with their mission. >> if it weren't for the final exit network, do you think jana would still be alive? >> yes, i do. >> eggbert is now retired from the final exit board. langsner pleaded to the lesser charge of endangerment and recently finished probation. >> if i made a mistake or made mistakes i wouldn't do them again but i didn't make a mistake. i think the law happens to be the mistake. to have a law like that. assisted suicide. we didn't assist anybody. so i go back. >> as of this airing, final exit continues to take applications to help people kill themselves. dr. lawrence eggbert as well as three other final exit members have now been indicted for their work in minnesota. we'll follow that case as well and keep you posted on what happens. shifting gears to the supreme court and obama care i'm going to tell you the one thing you really need to understand. plus, the world's oldest living yoga instructor. she is 93. she's coming by to share her secret. stay with us. 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ that's me and some of the cnn medical team on thursday. at 10:00 a.m. waiting to see if the supreme court would release its obama care decision. as you know, it didn't happen. barring a shocker the ruling will arrive this week. most observers are betting on monday. the biggest issue as you probably heard for the court is the individual mandate. here's what it means. starting in 2014 if you don't have insurance through a job and you don't have medicare or medicaid then you have to buy your own coverage just like car insurance. i'll tell you it's sort of funny how things go. i've been following this for a long time. as you probably know most republicans say the mandate is unconstitutional. back in the '90s, worth remembering this, the individual mandate was promoted by top republicans like newt gingrich and bob dole and later running for president hillary clinton also wanted a mandate. but at that time barack obama, candidate obama, was against it. >> senator clinton says i'm going to make universal health care by mandating that everybody buy it. but if people can't afford it, it doesn't matter what the mandate is. they're not going to buy it. by the way, what is she going to do if somebody doesn't purchase health care? is she going to fine them? garnish their wages? >> of course he later came around to mrs. clinton's position as you know. why does this all matter? i want to tell you a story. i think this is an important context. since the 1990s at least eight states have overhauled their insurance laws. kentucky is a typical example. in 1994 its new law told insurance companies you have to cover everyone even if they're chronically sick. you can't charge them too much money. well, it's the same as obama care but in kentucky there was no mandate. think of it like this. what if no one bought car insurance until their car was already wrecked on the side of the road? insurance companies, car insurance companies probably couldn't last and that's pretty much what happened in kentucky. before that law in kentucky there were 43 companies selling individual insurance policies. seven years later there were two. and the law had to be changed, overhauled. it was much the same way in the other states as well. if the supreme court strikes down just the mandate the whole country now will be in that same boat. of course, the court could also strike down the entire law or leave the entire law intact. whatever it is, we're going to dig into it next week. i'll take your questions on twitter all week long at sanjay gupta cnn. still ahead on the program i'll introduce you to a remarkable person, one of my favorite interviews of the year, the world's oldest yoga teacher. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. with your photographs. 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[ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. welcome back to sjmd. you're looking at two of our fit nation try athletes racing with triathlon relay teams. rick says he wanted a taste of the real thing so he completed both the bike and run portion in asheville, north carolina. carlos is a type 2 diabetic and did the bike leg near los angeles and had his teammate, 13-year-old diabetic. ryan and carlos both won their division. congratulations to everybody. rick, you as well. denise is another one of our fit nation tri athletes and joins us in the studio. good to see you. welcome back from hawaii. >> thank you. >> a pretty great trip. you're about to do a relay as well in philadelphia and will be racing with sarah reinerson and scott basset as well and both of them are athletes, both of them like you are missing a leg. first of all, how did this all come about? how did this relay come about? >> we're all part of the challenge athletes foundation, a nonprofit that works with people with disabilities. >> is it nerve-racking for you? obviously they've done this, i've met scout before and talked to her. how are you feeling about it? >> you know, i met them probably three months after my amputation at a challenge athletes foundation run clinic and, you know, they're just incredible women and i really looked up to them so now to have the chance to be racing right alongside them at the philly triathlon is very ebs sighting. >> tell me briefly the challenge athletes foundation, what is that? >> it's a nonprofit and basically they help people get back on their feet after they have lost a limb or they've been in an accident or are now wheelchair bound and they use that. they use athletics as a tool to help them get back on their feet. >> you're sort of playing it forward as well as i've been learning. you're helping coach and teach people as well, people like you. how is that going? >> it's going very well. i mean, you can't describe the feeling when you watch an amputee run for the first time and for me that happened this past weekend at the run clinic and it was actually two years to the date when i first went to my first run clinic with challenge athletes so to now be of this clinic and to be teaching other amputees the things that i have learned, it's undescribable, the feeling it's amazing to think about your life as you described it to me a few years ago and what you're doing now not only doing the athletic endeavors but actually teaching other people. and getting really good on tv as well. very comfortable, very relaxed. always fun to speak with you, denise. i look forward as i said to crossing that finish line with you. >> i can't wait. >> i can't either. it's going to be one of those great moments. denise is chasing life. so is our next guest. at age 93 she's the world's oldest yoga instructor. she is going to share her secrets, next. good morning! wow. want to start the day with something heart healthy and delicious? you're a talking bee... honey nut cheerios has whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol. and it tastes good? sure does! right... ♪ wow. delicious, right? yeah. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. chasing life one of my favorite parts of the show. with a woman who knows a thing or two about love, light, and truth. at age 93 she's been certified by the beginest book of world records as the oldest living yoga instructor. thanks for joining us. as i said, this is one of my favorite parts of the show. the segment is called "chasing life." let me just ask as a starting point do you have a secret for long life? >> laugh at the world. >> laugh at the world. >> wake up early in the morning and know that this is going to be a good day and have no fear. i don't believe in fear. i believe nothing is impossible. and when we tune into our inner self and into the energy within us and everything comes to the best way possible. >> i love that. and the idea of waking up with some sort of sense of purpose i think, you know, know what your purpose is. >> absolutely. >> how did you become interested in yoga? >> that comes from when i was young i started only because i saw boys doing it and i thought if they can do it i can do it although my aunt said it's not lady like. >> is that what they said that yoga was not lady like? >> yes, not for women. it wasn't lady like. >> we're watching you on the screen and it is phenomenal what you're able to do. i mean, you're literally balancing your whole body there. how hard is that? i mean, as you watch that is that very difficult? >> sanjay, it's what you call the creed of asaunas. all day long really all the blood is going down into our legs and we need to bring it back here even when we go to sleep. it helps you go to bed, get rid of all your thoughts and all of your problems and bring the blood back up again. >> i love it. i don't know if i can do what you're demonstrating there but you're going to turn 94 in august. you've been married twice. you have no children yet you say you really have 400 some children. >> yes. >> what do you mean by that? >> because i feel that all of my tsunamis no matter what their age, i am there to try and help them. that's -- when they can do something they think they've never been able to do and a smile comes over their face, that's the joy of that. >> pretty gratifying. it is. it's a jewel. >> as you may know i'm very interested in diet and i try and take good care of myself. any tips? how does your diet -- how has it contributed to your longevity? >> i've never eaten meat. >> don't eat meat at all. n