Switzerland: Authorities are looking into the first “suicide capsule” use.
Swiss police say they have detained several people and filed a criminal case just one day after the first “Sarco” capsule was used to end a life. In Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal as long as certain requirements are met.
Because the occupant of the capsule can choose to switch from oxygen to nitrogen at any time, the designers claim that a painless death without the need for medication is possible.
Following what appears to be the first use of a capsule intended to help people end their lives, police in Schaffhausen, in the northern Swiss canton, said on Tuesday that several people had been detained and a dead body had been taken for examination.
The “Sarco” capsule has been in development for a number of years and is being produced in the Netherlands. Its purpose is to allow the user to lie back inside the sealed chamber and press a button, which will replace most of the oxygen with nitrogen.
Exit International, the group that advocates for its use, claims that this causes a brief period of mild confusion and euphoria, which is followed by unconsciousness and, within minutes, asphyxia death.
