Dr Kevorkian’s Suicide Machine Is For Sale

Whether or not you agreed with his values, Dr Kevorkian’s assisted suicide device is a historical artifact of sorts. Which is why the New York Institute of Technology is auctioning off his patient helping/killing gear. Honey, you shouldn’t have!

Also among the morbid collection are “paintings he created with his own blood,” Gothamist reports. But the Thanatron — the suicide machine — is clearly the real prize. An elaborate, homemade device, named after the Greek personification of death, the Thanatron administered a series of relaxants and poison that killed Kevorkian’s patients. Who would want this thing in their home? I do not know. But it’s a piece of medical, social and scientific history — so stick it in a museum, please. [Gothamist]