Assisted suicide pods, a staple of science fiction for decades, may soon become a reality in Switzerland. Swiss news reports said the Sarco capsule, a 3D-printed assisted suicide pod, has received legal approval to be used by the general public.
The Sarco "death capsule" is "triggered from the inside by the individual wishing to die," according to inventor Dr. Philip Nitschke of Australia-based worldwide NGO Exit International. This may be hauled anyplace, whether a beautiful outdoor area or the grounds of an assisted suicide facility.
Sarco's Assisted 'Painless' Suicide Pod Cleared in Switzerland
He remarked that the equipment was designed to be as comfortable as possible. "The capsule is sitting on a piece of equipment that will flood the interior with nitrogen, rapidly reducing the oxygen level to 1 percent from 21 percent in about 30 seconds," Nitschke told swissinfo.
"The person will feel a little disoriented and may feel slightly euphoric before they lose consciousness. Death [occurs] through hypoxia and hypocapnia, oxygen, and carbon dioxide deprivation, respectively. There is no panic, no choking feeling," he added.
According to Nitschke, death usually happens within five to ten minutes of unconsciousness in such a condition. He informed the site that Exit International has asked the country's medical review board for "senior advice" on the legality of using the device in Switzerland in 2020. The organization had just heard there are no legal obstacles to the device's use.
Nitschke said the first and second prototypes are on display in museums and aren't aesthetically pleasing. Thus, the first operational unit won't be deployed in Switzerland until 2022 to prevent any unforeseen issues. Some components, such as a communication camera and the recording of informed consent, are still in the works.
Exit International, according to Nitschke, is looking at ways to carry out the procedure without the necessity for a doctor's presence for cognitive testing.
Some have criticized the Sarco gadget as a breach of medical ethics. Dr. Daniel Sumalsy, a professor of biomedical ethics at Georgetown University and an opponent of assisted suicide, told Newsweek in 2017 that "it's bad medicine, ethics, and bad public policy." According to Sumalsy, the feature converts death into a form of healing while ignoring the reality that palliative care can now cure a broader range of symptoms than ever before.
Physician-Assisted Deaths in Europe
Physician-assisted suicide is legal and often practiced in Switzerland. Hundreds of individuals (primarily those with terminal conditions) choose to end their lives this way every year. Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands are among the European countries that have enacted similar laws.
Simultaneously, some of their neighbors are willing to accept other techniques such as passive euthanasia or the discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment in certain conditions. In physician-assisted suicide, a patient chooses to die with the help of a medical professional, which usually includes little more than writing a prescription for a lethal drug.
During euthanasia, a medical expert utilizes active methods to terminate a patient's life without pain. Medical procedures that extend the patient's life are stopped as part of passive euthanasia or withdrawal therapy.
Reports said that physician-assisted suicide is lawful in Switzerland only if it is done for self-motives. In other words, the said feature is generally done with the support of charitable organizations.
In the year 2020, 1,300 assisted deaths were performed in Switzerland. The number of euthanasia operations in the Netherlands increased by 9 percent from 2019 to 2020, reaching 6,938 procedures, according to Business Insider.
Jeroen Recourt, chair of the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees, said in a Dutch paper Trouw that such information is part of a more significant trend. As a method to stop extreme agony, euthanasia is becoming increasingly popular among younger generations. Knowing that euthanasia is a feasible choice in the face of hopeless pain, on the other hand, is extremely reassuring.
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