Sarco hired a Swiss legal expert, who found that the suicide capsule did not violate any laws in the country. But other lawyers have questioned his findings, and assisted suicide organization Dignitas said it is unlikely to find “much acceptance.”
Assisted suicide, in which someone is given the means to end their life, is legal in Switzerland. About 1,300 people died there this way in 2020. Both assisted suicide and euthanasia, in which a doctor ends the life of someone who wants to die, they are illegal in Ireland and Italy.
Suicide Capsule: Legal Debate
The method currently used in Switzerland is to provide the person with a series of fluids which, if ingested, will end the person’s life. Conversely, the suicide capsule, which can be placed anywhere, is flooded with nitrogen, rapidly reducing oxygen levels. The process would cause the person inside e to lose consciousness it would die in about 10 minutes. The suicide capsule is activated from the inside and also has an emergency button to exit.
Daniel Huerlimann, a law expert and assistant professor at the University of St. Gallen, was asked by Sarco to consider whether the use of the suicide capsule would violate Swiss law, then told newspapers that his findings suggested that the capsule “It was not a medical device”, therefore it would not have been covered by the Swiss Therapeutic Products Act.
He also believed that he would not fall in violation of the laws governing the use of nitrogen, weapons or product safety. “This means that the pod is not covered by Swiss law,” he said.
But Kerstin Noelle Vkinger, a doctor, lawyer and professor at the University of Zurich, told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung: “Medical devices are regulated because they should be safer than other products. Just because a product is not beneficial to health does not mean it is also not affected by these additional safety requirements. “
And Dignitas told the newspapers: “For 35 years, through the two Swiss Exit groups and for 23 years also with Dignitas, Switzerland has practiced professionally accompanied suicide with qualified personnel, in collaboration with doctors. In light of this consolidated, safe and professionally conducted / supported practice, we do not imagine that a technological capsule for a self-determined end of life will meet with a lot of acceptance or interest in Switzerland“.
If the machine gets the green light for use in Switzerland, the suicide capsule will not be offered for sale in a conventional way. Instead, the creator of the capsule, Dr. Philip Nitschke, said he planned to make the designs available so that anyone can download the design. This will be made available for free.
Its goal is “De-medicalising the process of dying”, he said in an interview posted on the website of Exit International, a voluntary death assisted charity he founded. “We want to remove any type of psychiatric review from the process and allow the individual to control the method for himself.”
He has long campaigned for the right to die, earning himself the nickname of “Dr Death”. There are currently two prototypes of the Sarco capsule, with a third being printed in the Netherlands.
Dr Nitschke has already faced criticism for the capsule, with some claiming that its futuristic design makes suicide glamorous.
