People wishing to end their lives in Switzerland - one of a handful of countries that give the option - could soon have access to a new method: a 3-D-printed pod that its creator says can painlessly end someone's life in a matter of minutes.
Real-life participants will start trying the coffinlike "Sarco" during trials set to begin in early 2022, the capsule's creator, Philip Nitschke, told The Washington Post this week. A legal analysis commissioned by his nonprofit, Exit International, recently concluded that use of the pod will not violate Switzerland's assisted suicide laws, he said.
Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.
At the push of a button, the pod becomes filled with nitrogen gas, which rapidly lowers oxygen levels, causing its user to fall unconscious within a minute, Nitschke said. A person does not suffocate or experience distress, he said, but rather dies of oxygen deprivation after they've fallen asleep. In theory, the capsule can be towed to a place of someone's choosing, said Nitschke, who described the machine as a "stylish and elegant" way to die.
"It provides that sense of occasion by its look," Nitschke said. "It looks good, and it's a thing that I would like to get into."
But since Nitschke introduced the concept four years ago, it has been met with varying degrees of bewilderment and condemnation, with some critics arguing the Sarco's appearance is one of its biggest problems.
Daniel Sulmasy, the director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, said the capsule's sleek, almost luxury-car-like design "glamorizes suicide." He also said he takes issue with Nitschke's plan to post the 3-D printing instructions online, noting that it could lead to suicide contagion - a phenomenon in which hearing about suicide can lead to more people dying that way.
"That's a real worry . . . that a machine like this glamorizes suicide and makes it easier for people who are vulnerable and mentally ill," Sulmasy told The Post.
Even those who support assisted suicide say they have concerns. In an opinion piece published this week in the Independent, Stephen Duckworth, a disability advocate who says he believes in the right to assisted dying, wrote that he is "appalled" by the Sarco.
"Safety should always be at the forefront of any efforts to enable greater choice at the end of life, and there are serious safety concerns here," Duckworth wrote. "What if it is accessed by someone not in their right mind? Or a child? Or if it is used to abuse others? What if it doesn't result in immediate or peaceful death and the individual is left alone without any recourse to call for help? I could go on and on."
Nitschke argues that the pod is safe and will deliver painless deaths - and he expects no surprises during the trials that will be held at a Swiss clinic for assisted suicide, using about a half-dozen volunteers. "We'll be comfortable after we have the first few" successful trials, he said.
Responding to criticism about suicide contagion, Nitschke said Exit International will print the Sarco's plans in a book his nonprofit distributes with methods on assisted dying, which is restricted to people over the age of 50 who are "of sound mind or seriously ill."
"Not saying it will always protect everyone," he said, "but we want the information freely available to rational adults."
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal in only a handful of countries. In the United States, 10 states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide for terminally ill, mentally capable adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live, The Post reported. In Colombia, where euthanasia has been decriminalized since 1997, officials abruptly halted the procedure of a woman suffering from a debilitating disease, arguing that her condition had improved too much for her to legally undergo the process, The Post reported in October.
While countries like the Netherlands and Belgium permit assisted suicide for patients with unbearable physical or psychological suffering, Switzerland has no such requirements written into its law, according to the British Medical Association.
Per Swiss law, anyone can assist in a suicide, so long as it is not performed for "selfish motives," meaning it is illegal to assist out of malice or for profit. Moreover, the person choosing to end their life must be mentally competent - a determination typically made by a psychiatrist - and the person must ultimately initiate the final step leading to their death.
The law, in effect since the early '40s, has allowed a handful of assisted suicide clinics to operate in the country, and has led to an increasing number of "suicide tourists" who visit the country to end their lives. "People come into Switzerland every day to die," Nitschke said.
Those assisted suicides are typically administered via the injection of a barbiturate, prescribed by doctors, that will cause a person to lose consciousness and die relatively peacefully. Yet many doctors are loath to prescribe the medication to people who are not sick, Nitschke said, and he argues that there are categories of people - such as elderly individuals who are "tired of life" - who want the assistance.
That is one of the reasons Nitschke has introduced the Sarco. Because the capsule does not administer drugs, it takes some of the decision-making power away from the medical establishment.
Daniel Hürlimann, a law professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, conducted the legal assessment for Exit International's use of the Sarco. He told The Post that while Swiss law "does not explicitly authorize the use of Sarco, it simply does not regulate it and thus does not prohibit it."
That assessment was good enough for Nitschke.
"It's taken quite a while to get it into a final designed and manufactured form," he said of the machine. "But we've done that now, and we're at the stage now where it needs to be trialed."
Nitschke said he likes Sarco so much he may ultimately use it himself, and added that death should not "be shrouded by misery and gloom" but rather a moment of "celebration."
Sulmasy, the ethicist, sharply disagreed. "Death can sometimes be very welcome for people, but it should never be anything we celebrate," he said. "We're always losing a unique, special human being, whenever any one of us dies."
If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
Native Americans' farming practices may help feed a warming world
Long covid is destroying careers, leaving economic distress in its wake
Neil Young made 'Barn,' his new album, in a barn
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIDays after the Secret Service pushed back on the stunning testimony that former President Donald Trump violently freaked out during a Jan. 6 presidential SUV ride, CNN reported on Friday that accounts of Trump lunging at his Secret Service agents have spread around the agency for the past year.According to two Secret Service sources, stories similar to ex-Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s account—which she testified under oath was told to her by former Trump staffer and current S
"I was deeply unhappy, barely containing secrets that would soon devastate me emotionally and send me to the brink of suicide at the height of my fame."
It was the second warning Cassidy Hutchinson had received before her deposition, cautioning her against cooperating with the panel
One of the girl's family members jumped in the water and beat the shark off of her until she was free, officials said.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said a Secret Service agent who may testify against Cassidy Hutchinson's retelling of events "likes to lie."
Anderson County Sheriff's OfficeA 28-year-old Texas man accused of orchestrating the horrific smuggling operation that killed 53 migrants this week frantically texted the driver when the truck went off the radar and later admitted to a confidential informant he had no idea the air conditioning had failed in the sweltering big rig, the feds say.Christian Martinez, 28, was arrested Tuesday on a trafficking charge involving death that could result in life in prison or the death penalty after migran
Joey Chestnut told Insider that he starts sweating profusely after the competition, and people have told him it smells like hot dogs.
In a Republican gubernatorial debate full of cringe-worthy moments, their answers on whether the 2020 election was stolen were the creepiest of all.
The PGA Tour added seven more players to the list of those who have been indefinitely suspended because LIV participation.
It’s rare for storms in the Atlantic Ocean to take such an unusual track.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it's left some in Ohio to travel outside the state for an abortion. Among them is a 10-year-old girl.
"Hollaback Girl" singer and 'The Voice' coach Gwen Stefan posted a bikini photo of herself on Instagram while working on her makeup line. See the photo and read how fans reacted.
Gary Payton II sent segments of Dub Nation into a frenzy with an IG story on Friday but he later clarified it wasn't a shot at the Warriors.
ALONA MAZURENKO - FRIDAY, 1 JULY 2022, 21:06 Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Russian occupying forces conducted an airstrike on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island on 1 July, dropping phosphorous bombs on the island.
Corden decided Doocy's name was David and didn't leave any room for argument
The Jan. 6 committee apparently suspects that the Trump loyalist who sought to pressure bombshell witness Cassidy Hutchinson into keeping quiet was not only acting as an intermediary for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The panel reportedly wants to interview the unnamed “associate” of Meadows as a “fact witness” to what the former President Donald Trump and his chief of staff were ...
Over Father's Day weekend, singer Miranda Lambert and husband Brendan McLoughlin weren't scared to show some PDA on Instagram.
By re-signing only one of their top three free agents, Kevon Looney, the Warriors created more room for the future core to contribute. Winning it all makes this an easier call.
After losing out on Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr., the Warriors reportedly are adding versatile wing Donte DiVincenzo.
This isn't your average swimsuit.