US woman dies in controversial suicide capsule in Switzerland

Robin MILLARD
Tue, September 24, 2024 

The Sarco suicide pod causes death by hypoxia (ARND WIEGMANN) (ARND WIEGMANN/AFP/AFP)


A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested.

The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border.

The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country but assisted dying has been legal for decades.


On the same day it was used, Switzerland's Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told lawmakers that the Sarco was "not legal".

Police in the northern Schaffhausen canton said several people had been taken into custody and face criminal proceedings.

- 'Peaceful, fast, dignified' -

The Last Resort, an assisted dying organisation, presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July, saying they expected it to be used for the first time within months, and saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland.

In a statement to AFP, The Last Resort said the person who died, who was not named, was a 64-year-old woman from the midwestern United States.

She "had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise", the statement said.

The death took place "under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat".

The association's co-president Florian Willet was the only other person present, and described the woman's death as "peaceful, fast and dignified", according to the statement.

- Warning given -

The cantonal public prosecutor's office "has opened criminal proceedings against several people for inducement and aiding and abetting suicide... and several people have been placed in police custody," a police statement said.

The public prosecutor's office had been informed by a law firm on Monday that an assisted suicide had taken place at a forest hut in Merishausen.

The police, the forensic emergency service and the public prosecutor's office "went to the crime scene".

The Sarco suicide capsule was secured and the deceased taken away for an autopsy.

"We found the capsule with the lifeless person inside," said Schaffhausen's public prosecutor Peter Sticher.

He told Blick newspaper that several people were arrested "so that they were not colluding with each other or covering up evidence".

Sticher said the operators knew the risks of being arrested.

"We warned them in writing. We said that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences," he said.

- Sarco: 3D-printable capsule -

The Sarco was invented by Philip Nitschke, a leading global figure in right-to-die activism.

The 3D-printable capsule cost more than 650,000 euros ($725,000) to research and develop in the Netherlands over 12 years. Future Sarcos could cost around 15,000 euros. The pods are reusable.

In a statement, Nitschke said he was "pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed to do: that is to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person's choosing".

To use the Sarco, the person wishing to die must first pass a psychiatric assessment.

The person climbs into the purple capsule, closes the lid, and is asked automated questions such as who they are, where they are and if they know what happens when they press the button.

In July, Nitschke explained that once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air plummets from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.

The person inside quickly loses consciousness before dying within around five minutes.

Nitschke's Exit International organisation, which owns the Sarco, is a non-profit group funded by donations. The only cost for the user is 18 Swiss francs ($21) for the nitrogen.

- Suicide law -

In July, Willet said Switzerland was "by far the best place" for the Sarco to be used, due to its "wonderful liberal system".

Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.

But interior minister Baume-Schneider, taking questions in parliament on Monday, said: "The Sarco suicide capsule is not legally compliant."

"Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law and therefore cannot be placed on the market. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act," she said.

Fiona Stewart, who is on The Last Resort's advisory board, said the group was acting on legal advice, which "since 2021 has consistently found that the use of Sarco in Switzerland would be lawful".


US woman dies in first use of ‘Sarco suicide pod’

Henry Samuel
Tue, September 24, 2024 

Dr Fiona Stewart, a lawyer on the board of Last Resort, exhibits the organisation’s ‘Sarco’ pod in July - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty


An American woman has become the first person to die through the use of a “Sarco suicide pod”.

Two people were arrested on charges of assisting her to use the unapproved, Dutch-made device, Swiss police said on Monday.

The 3D-printed capsule, invented by the controversial assisted-dying activist Dr Philip Nitschke, is designed to kill its occupant by starving them of oxygen as it fills with nitrogen gas.

It is not compliant with Swiss law, according to the country’s interior minister, who said on Monday that it “does not meet the requirements of product safety” and that such use of nitrogen does not comply with chemical regulations in Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Swiss police said they had arrested two people for aiding in the death of a US woman in a woodland area in Schaffhausen, a northern town near the German border.

A photographer from the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant was at the scene to capture the moment the pod was used for the first time. He was detained by police, the newspaper said.

Dr Philip Nitschke, the inventor of the pod, demonstrates its use - Ahmad Seir/AP

Last Resort – the Swiss organisation founded in July 2023 specifically to develop the pod which states that “a good death is a fundamental human right” – confirmed in a statement that a 64-year-old woman died after using the device.

It said: “On Monday Sept 23, at approximately 4.01pm local time, a 64-year-old woman from the midwest in the US died using the Sarco device.”

The firm said its co-president, Dr Florian Willet, was the sole person present for the death, contrary to police reports.

Dr Willet said the woman’s death had been “peaceful, fast and dignified”, taking place “under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat in the Canton of Schaffhausen close to the Swiss-German border”.

The organisation said the woman “had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems” associated with “severe” immunodeficiency.

Earlier this month, Peter and Christine Scott, a retired British couple who have been married for 46 years, said they had decided to end their lives at the same time in the pod after Mrs Scott, a former nurse, was diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.

The pod carries a quotation from the late astronomer Carl Sagan

 - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty

The 80 year-old and her husband, 86, who have six grandchildren, are on a waiting list of 120 applicants to use the device, according to Last Resort, with around a quarter of those on the list said to be British.

Under Swiss law, helping another person to die is not a criminal offence as long as there is no selfish motive.

However, several districts, including Schaffhausen, have threatened criminal proceedings if the suicide pod is used in their territory.

On Monday, federal councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said the capsule did not comply with Swiss law as it failed to meet market safety requirements and the use of nitrogen was illegal.

A coffin-sized cabin

According to De Volkskrant, the unnamed woman, who had travelled to Switzerland especially for the purpose, started the assisted suicide process on Monday afternoon in a forest by pressing a button while lying in the capsule – a coffin-sized cabin with a window.

The news outlet said its photographer was being held by police after photographing the scene beforehand. A lawyer who was the sole person present at time of death was also thought to have been arrested.

The woman’s death was confirmed by Dr Nitschke, the Australian inventor of the pod, who monitored her oxygen and heart rate remotely through a camera from Germany.

The pod works by introducing nitrogen into its sealed interior - Arnd Wiegmann/AFP via Getty

The Sarco was set up outdoors, in a remote location. Through a window, the woman had a view of nature, trees and the sky during her last moments.

Dr Willet, who is Dr Nitschke’s wife, then informed police and the Schaffhausen public prosecutor who arrived at the scene and made the arrests and confiscated the capsule, according to reports.

The body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy.

Last Resort said the woman who died made an oral statement before her death to Fiona Stewart, a lawyer who is on its advisory board, expressing her wish to die.

In the four-minute recording, she said she had wanted to die for “at least two years”, ever since she was diagnosed with a very serious illness that involves severe pain.

She insisted that her two sons “completely agree” that this was her decision. “They are behind me 100 per cent.”

Ms Stewart said both sons, not present in Switzerland, had separately confirmed this in written statements to Last Resort.

“When she registered, she said she wanted to die as soon as possible,” said Ms Stewart. The American woman was examined by a psychiatrist, who found her to be competent, with no psychiatric history, she added.
Controversial activist

Dr Nitschke’s actions have caused controversy in the past. In 2006, he created a worldwide stir by publishing The Peaceful Pill Handbook, in which he described dozens of suicide methods in detail. He moved to the Netherlands ten years ago.

“What if we dared to imagine that our last day on this planet would also be our most exciting?” he once said of the Sarco.

“The day we die is one of the most important days of our lives,” he told De Volkskrant. “Once death becomes inevitable, why don’t we embrace it? With this capsule, you can die anywhere you want: with a view of the mountains, or the ocean.

“Apart from this device, almost nothing is needed: no injection from a doctor, no illegal drugs that are difficult to obtain. This de-medicalises death.”

According to Dr Nitschke, the woman’s death was an important step for organisations that fight for self-determination when it comes to dying.



He said he had tested his pod several times in advance, even lying in it for five minutes this spring with an oxygen mask on his face, while it was filled with nitrogen.

He told De Volkskrant his invention was a more elegant version of “using gas and a bag over [one’s] head”, adding it was more akin to passengers being starved of oxygen when cabin pressure drops in an aeroplane.

“We know from people who have survived that it doesn’t feel like suffocation,” he is cited as saying. “People just keep breathing. After half a minute they start to feel disoriented.

“They don’t really notice what’s happening to them. Some experience mild euphoria. Then they just drift off.”

According to Last Resort, the woman only paid the 18 Swiss francs (£16) charge for the nitrogen.

“The use of the Sarco is free,” said Ms Stewart. ”We don’t want to make any money from this.” The woman did have to pay additional costs, such as her cremation, she said, adding that other legal assisted dying organisations charge thousands to dispose of the body.
Objections by Dignitas

However, other Swiss assisted-dying organisations have expressed opposition to the Sarco.

Dignitas told the SWI news site that professional medical suicide assistance must be carried out by “trained staff and that every accompanied suicide is checked by the authorities (public prosecutor’s office, police and medical officer)”.

“In light of this legally secured, established and proven practice, we cannot imagine that a technologised capsule for a self-determined end of life will meet much acceptance or interest in Switzerland,” it said.

According to Erika Preisig, a doctor and president of the Basel-based organisation Lifecircle, medical intervention also serves as a “gatekeeper” to prevent unnecessary suicides.

“I fear that people without sufficient information about alternatives to suicide and who have not thought their death wish through carefully will be unscrupulously helped to die,” she told SWI.

The Swiss organisations also describe Sarco as inhumane, because the person has to die “alone” in a closed capsule, separated from their relatives.

Dr Nitschke is seeking the Sarco pod’s use elsewhere. He recently wrote to Liam McArthur, the MSP seeking to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland, urging him to introduce the device.


Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland

Timothy Nerozzi
Tue, September 24, 2024 


Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland


Multiple people have been arrested in Switzerland in connection to the seemingly willing use of a "suicide capsule."

Police officials of Schaffhausen canton in northern Switzerland announced on Tuesday that multiple people have been detained following a tip indicating individuals were helped to kill themselves in a cabin in Merishausen.

An investigation into possible incitement and accessory to suicide is underway, and the premeditated death could be attributed to the first-ever use of a Sarco-brand suicide capsule.

Terminally Ill Missouri Woman, 79, Taking Trip To Switzerland For Assisted Suicide

This photograph shows the Sarco suicide capsule, during a media event organised by the "Last Resort", a Switzerland's human rights non-profit association focused on assisted suicide, in Zurich on July 17, 2024. The 3-D printed coffin-like Sarco suicide machine, can be activated from the inside by the person intending to die, by filling the capsule with nitrogen, which induces hypoxic death to the occupant.More

The Sarco pod is a suicide machine developed by Netherlands-based pro-euthanasia group Exit International.

The group seemed to take responsibility for the alleged crime in a statement, announcing the willful euthanization of an elderly woman who is a U.S. citizen and suffering from an intense immune disease.

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"In Switzerland on Monday, a 64-year-old woman died in a specially designed ‘suicide capsule’ containing nitrogen gas. It is the first time ever that this suicide capsule, called the Sarco, was used," Exit International boasted in an online press release. "The capsule, an airtight cabin the size of a coffin, offers, according to its creators, a ‘quick, peaceful and reliable death’ without the assistance of a doctor or medication."

Physically Healthy Dutch Woman Dies By Assisted Suicide At Age 29

"It is still unclear how Swiss justice will react to this," the pro-suicide group's statement continued. "The conditions set by the country are that the person with the death wish is mentally competent, that they carry out the final deadly act themselves and that the people who help have altruistic motives."

Exit International founder Dr. Philip Nitschke announced Tuesday that he was "pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed […] to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person’s choosing."

Exit International said Nitschke personally "confirmed" the U.S. woman's death.

Australian activist Philip Nitschke addresses a press conference of The Last Resort to present the Sarco suicide capsule in Zurich. The device, called "Sarco" for sarcophagus, is designed to enable people to take their own lives by pressing a button inside the capsule, which is supposed to release nitrogen.

Switzerland was the first country in the world to legalize assisted dying, legislating the accomodation in 1941.

Swiss law allows patients to be accommodated while killing themselves only if they do so without "external assistance" and are not aided by individuals with a "self-serving motive."

The Sarco capsule is designed to fill itself with Nitrogen gas, putting victims to sleep before suffocating them within 10 minutes of activation.

It is 3-D printed and was first unveiled at the Venice Design Festival in 2019.

Original article source: Suicide advocates boast over apparent use of Sarco suicide capsule on US citizen in Switzerland

Swiss police make arrests after suicide capsule is used for first time

Reuters
Tue, September 24, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: Presentation of the Sarco suicide machine in Zurich

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss police have arrested several people after a controversial futuristic-looking capsule designed to allow its occupant to commit suicide was used for the first time, authorities said on Tuesday.

Police in the northern canton of Schaffhausen bordering Germany said the so-called "Sarco" capsule had been deployed in a wood in the municipality of Merishausen on Monday.

Prosecutors in Schaffhausen have opened criminal proceedings against several people for "inducing and aiding and abetting suicide", a police statement said, adding several people were detained, without giving details about them or the deceased.

A spokesperson for the group behind the capsule, The Last Resort, said the deceased was a 64-year-old American woman who had been suffering from a severely compromised immune system.

Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort, was among the four detainees, along with a Dutch journalist and two Swiss people, the spokesperson said. Willet was the only other person present when the woman ended her life, the spokesperson said.

In a statement issued by The Last Resort, Willet had described the death as "peaceful, fast and dignified."

The Last Resort spokesperson said the woman had passed psychiatric evaluations prior to ending her life.

A spokesperson for prosecutors in Schaffhausen declined to give details or confirm there were four detainees.

Cast along sleek, aerodynamic lines, the "Sarco" causes death when its occupant releases nitrogen gas inside, lowering the amount of oxygen to lethal levels. It is the brainchild of Philip Nitschke, an Australian physician famous for his work on assisted suicide since the 1990s.

Switzerland has been a magnet for advocates of assisted suicide due to laws that make it legal there, and The Last Resort says its legal advice was that it could be deployed.

The capsule has generated considerable media attention and discussion among authorities on whether they would allow it.

Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, the Swiss minister responsible for health, said on Monday that the capsule does not meet the requirements of product safety law, and that its use of nitrogen is not legally compliant.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Paul Arnold, Editing by William Maclean)