Switzerland will 'soon' use its first portable pod for assisted dying

Switzerland will “soon” introduce its first portable assisted dying pod that will allow a person to die without the requirement of medical supervision, an assisted dying group has said.

But such details would be only made public once it is concluded as “we really don’t want a person’s desire for a peaceful passing [in] Switzerland to turn into a media circus”, said lawyer Fiona Stewart, who is on The Last Resort’s advisory board.

The Sarco pod, a futuristic 3D-printed capsule designed for assisted dying, was first unveiled in Switzerland in 2019 amid controversy. 

Once activated from the inside, it works by filling the chamber with nitrogen and rapidly reducing oxygen levels. This process allows the person to lose consciousness and die within approximately 10 minutes.

Assisted dying has been legal in Switzerland since the 1940s, provided it is carried out by someone with no direct interest in the death. 

This has led to Switzerland becoming a so-called "death tourism" destination, according to Reuters.

Florian Willet of The Last Resort, a newly formed organisation that offers assisted dying to people with “serious physical illness”, said in a press conference on Tuesday that the first use of Sarco will “take place pretty soon”.

No decisions have been made regarding the time, date, and location of the first assisted death, nor is it known who the first user will be.

The pod was invented by Philip Nitschke, 76, founder of Exit International, who has been nicknamed “Dr Death”..

Nitschke explained that once the user is inside the pod, a voice instructs, “If you want to die, press this button.” 

When the button is pressed, the oxygen level drops from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.

“They will then stay in that state of unconsciousness for… around about five minutes before death will take place,” he said, according to South China Morning Post.

“Once you press that button, there’s no way of going back,” he said for those wanting to change their mind at the last minute.

The pods could be activated by a button, gesture, voice control, or blink of the eye. Those who cannot vocally or physically communicate due to severe illness or mobility issues can activate it through eye movement.

The process inside the pod is filmed and the footage is handed to a coroner.

Critics of the device have called for its prohibition, citing Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code, which considers assisting death a crime if motivated by "selfish" reasons.

“Whoever, from selfish motives, induces another person to commit suicide or aids him in it, shall be confined in the penitentiary for not over five years, or in the prison, provided that the suicide has either been completed or attempted,” the code says.

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