Many more deaths through suicide pills in the Netherlands

According to the public prosecutor, the 33 people bought the suicide powder from 28-year-old S. from Eindhoven. In at least fifteen of them, the death can also be directly associated with the intake of Medicine X. Alex S. has promised to stop selling the drug when released. Partly for this reason, his lawyer asked for his release. The court allowed it, subject to conditions. Alex S. must report to the probation service and be treated at a Dutch mental health care institution. He is also banned from contacting co-defendants. He is not allowed to give people information about suicide.

S. is a member of the so-called Coöperatie Laatste Wil (or Last Will Society, CLW). This organisation advocates self-determination around the deathbed. CLW's chairman Jos van Wijk was also arrested in the investigation. Still, he was released because of his more minor role in the selling of the drug. "He later announced that role in the media," said the public prosecutor on Friday. According to the Public Prosecution Service, CLW is a "criminal organisation whose intent it is to commit or plot assisted suicide".

S. still owns the drug, he said himself. "I want a gastric bypass because I'm at the turning point of becoming bedridden. I've always wanted the drug in case I got bedridden and would not be able to take care of myself anymore."

S. was arrested in July. He sold the suicide drug to hundreds of people, the judiciary thinks. The investigation began in May 2021, when a woman from the Dutch town of Best died of the drug. There, the drug and data carriers were found that led to Alex S. He has been selling it since November 2018.

With the money that the man earned by providing the medicines, he would have provided for his livelihood. The Public Prosecution Service therefore also suspects him of money laundering.