firehose

The shutdown of Silk Road, the secret online marketplace for illegal drugs and other goods, may be having a grim side effect. The site was used by junkies and Timothy Leary types, but a doctor in Australia claims it was also an important resource for chronically ill patients pursuing euthanasia, or assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is illegal in many countries, but there are still doctors and advocates who will help distressed patients seeking voluntary death. Usually these patients are in so much pain, or their quality of life is so diminished, that they no longer want to live and prefer to exit on their own terms. Such patients were using Silk Road to purchase the lethal drug Nembutal and download copies of an ebook called The Peaceful Pill Handbook, says Australian right-to-die advocate Philip Nitschke.

The ebook, a euthanasia how-to guide that has been banned in New Zealand and Australia, is available on Amazon. The drug, however, is harder to get. Dr. Nitschke told The Age that he knew of at least 20 people who used Silk Road to clandestinely purchase Nembutal, the brand name for the lethal injection drug pentobarbital that induces respiratory failure. Patients seeking Nembutal will now have to buy it from Chinese chemical makers. "The removal of the site will now mean that other less secure avenues will be pursued," Dr. Nitschke says.

Fans who are clamoring for a Wonder Woman movie just gained a pretty big ally in the form of Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

Speaking at an entertainment law conference this weekend, Tsujihara told the gathered crowd that the studio’s lack of superhero movies outside of the Superman and Batman franchises was a “missed opportunity,” and expressed his desire to focus on developing a Wonder Woman project, saying “We need to get Wonder Woman on the big screen or TV.”

Quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Tsujihara assured those in attendance that the studio has “huge plans for a number of other DC properties on TV.” We’ve seen evidence to support this, as television series based on both the Flash and John Constantine have recently been announced, with the former spinning out of the CW’s Arrow, the second season of which begins on Wednesday.

But the big takeaway from this conference, for many, will be Tsujihara’s desire to produce a Wonder Woman project, as it would appear he’s disappointed that has yet to happen. Recent attempts to bring the DC Comics hero to other media have mostly failed. While the direct to DVD Wonder Woman animated feature was one of the more critically celebrated in that current line, the David E. Kelly helmed Wonder Woman television pilot was turned down by NBC, and the The CW passed on the proposed Amazon television series, which was being produced by Allan Heinberg.

[Via io9]

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