Swiss suicide capsule put into use for the first time
The Sarco during the stage of testing. Photo The Last Resort
Central Europe
In Switzerland, a 64-year-old woman died in a specially designed suicide capsule with nitrogen. The woman was the first user of the device.
According to the designers of the so-called Sarco, the capsule offers a “fast, peaceful and safe death” without the help of a physician or drugs. The suicide capsule was developed and built in the Netherlands, the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad writes.
Shortly before her death, the woman had recorded her death wish on a video. In it, she says that her death wish has existed for more than two years already. It started at the time she was diagnosed with a serious illness that can cause severe pain.
Suffocation
The woman had travelled all the way from the United States to Switzerland to commit suicide. Lying down in the capsule, she started the process by pushing a button. After that, the capsule filled itself with nitrogen, taking away all oxygen in the cabin within a minute.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, who invented the Sarco, confirmed the death of the woman, the Dutch daily Volkskrant, which was present at the scene, writes. Nitschke explained that death by Nitrogren is peaceful as it does not feel like suffocation. “People keep breathing. After thirty seconds, they start feeling disoriented. But they do not notice what is happening. Some experience light euphoria. After that, they lose consciousness.”
According to Nitschke, who followed the process from Germany, this is exactly what happened when the American woman used the Sarco. “I estimate that she lost consciousness within two minutes and died within five minutes. We saw sudden, small muscle subtractions, but most likely, she had lost consciousness already by then”, he tells the Volkskrant.
The 64-year-old woman died around 16.01 p.m., says judicial expert Florian Willet, the director of the Last Resort, and the organisation behind the suicide process. She passed away in a deserted area in the canton of Schaffhausen close to the German border. After her death, The Last Resort contacted the police. Officers may have arrested director Florian Willet but did not want to confirm that on Tuesday morning.
Money
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, as long as the those committing suicide are competent to make such a decision, carry out the action by themselves, and people who assist in the suicide have an altruistic motive to do so. In other words, they are not allowed to earn money from it. Because of this legislation, several people travel to the country to commit suicide, as assisted suicide is illegal in other countries.
The Swiss government has refused to say whether the Sarco is illegal or not. The watchdog Swissmedic said that Sarco is not a medical device and that permission is therefore not necessary. In addition, nitrogen is not a medicine. On Monday, Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said that Sarco would not fulfil the requirements of product safety and that it would not use nitrogen according to the regulations in the law about chemicals, NZZ wrote.
Councilor Nina Fehrüssel from Zurich is happy with the statement that was an answer to a question she asked. “It gives me confidence, because it looks like this business model will not get permission in Switzerland and therefore not be successful here.” She calls on the Federal Agency for Public Health to publish guidelines about the Sarco for the cantons.
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