This week, a 64-year-old American woman became the first person to end her own life using a “suicide pod” and several people connected to her death are now in custody in Switzerland.
The Midwestern woman, whose name has not been released, died Monday afternoon in a mobile, 3D-printed euthanasia machine called “Sarco” (short for “sarcophagus”) near the Swiss-German border, also known as the “Tesla of euthanasia,” according to Exit International, an assisted suicide group.
The group said the woman had a “severe immune deficiency.”
Switzerland is one of the few countries where foreigners can travel to and legally end their own lives through assisted suicide, which does not require the involvement of a doctor but does include outside assistance.
But Swiss authorities say the controversial pods Inject nitrogen into the chamberThe drug, which causes a user's oxygen levels to plummet to lethal levels, is not yet approved for use.
Florian Willet, co-director of the Swiss branch of Exit International, The Last Resort, was the only person to have witnessed the woman's death, which he described as “peaceful, swift and dignified,” the group said in a statement.
According to local police, the incident is believed to have happened near a forest cabin in Melisshausen.
Police in northern Switzerland said on Tuesday they had detained “several people” in connection with the death.
According to reports, the prosecutor's office was tipped off by a law firm about the woman's suicide. The arrested suspects are currently under investigation for instigating suicide and being complicit in it.
A photographer from Dutch newspaper Volkskrant was among those arrested, the paper reported on Tuesday.
The photographer was to take pictures of the suicide pods in action.
Once the pod is activated, anyone inside will lose consciousness and likely die within about 10 minutes.
The pods are activated from the inside and have emergency escape buttons.
“We are pleased that Sarco will work as designed, enabling him to die peacefully and drug-free, at a time of his choosing,” Exit International director Dr. Philip Nitschke said on Tuesday.
Nitschke has previously said Swiss lawyers had advised him the device would be considered legal in the country.
And on Monday, Health Minister Elisabeth Bohm-Schneider suggested the capsules were illegal.
“It does not meet the requirements of product safety law and must not be put into circulation,” she said.
Furthermore, “the corresponding use of nitrogen is incompatible with the objective provisions of the Chemical Act.”
In July, Swiss newspaper Blick obtained a letter from prosecutor Peter Sticher warning that Sarcopod's operators could face “severe consequences”.
“We have no credible information about the method of the murder,” Stitcher told the outlet.[It is] It is completely unclear who controls which mechanical steps during the dyeing process.”
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland so long as a person takes their own life without “external assistance” from a doctor and the person assisting them does so with “selfish motives”.
Unlike in the Netherlands, where Exit International is based, Swiss law still strictly prohibits the practice of euthanasia, which requires the involvement of a medical professional such as a doctor.
If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the issues discussed in this article, please call the Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org.
With post wire
