Sarco’s assisted suicide capsule has raised authorized and moral questions in Switzerland, the place energetic euthanasia is banned. | Photograph credit score: AFP
A number of folks have been arrested after the controversial Sarco suicide capsule was used to finish the lifetime of a lady, Swiss police stated on Tuesday (24 September 2024).
Police within the northern canton of Schaffhausen stated the capsule was utilized in a forest hut on Monday (23 September 2024), after which a number of folks had been arrested and now face legal proceedings for “complicity in suicide”.
Final Resort, an assisted dying group, stated in an announcement {that a} 64-year-old American lady, who was not recognized, “died utilizing the Sarco machine” on Monday.
The capsule has raised various authorized and moral questions in Switzerland, the place energetic euthanasia is banned however assisted dying has been authorized for many years.
The Sarco capsule, first launched in 2019, is a conveyable, human-sized capsule that replaces the oxygen inside with nitrogen, inflicting demise by hypoxia.
It’s activated routinely by a button inside, offering demise with out medical supervision.
“The Sarco suicide capsule doesn’t adjust to the legislation on two counts,” Swiss Inside Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider instructed parliament on Monday. “Firstly, it doesn’t meet the necessities of the product security legislation… Secondly, the usage of nitrogen is just not appropriate with the aim article of the Chemical compounds Act,” she stated.
Revealed – September 25, 2024 09:29 am IST
