Claim:
A photograph authentically shows a "suicide pod" designed for assisted suicide sitting in a Swiss forest, where it was used by a U.S. woman to take her own life.
Rating:
True ( About this rating? )
In September 2024, a photograph of a "suicide pod" in the woods spread online along with a rumor that a 64-year-old woman from the United States had used it to kill herself in Switzerland ( archived ):
Midwest woman, 64, dies in Sarco suicide pod used for the first time as cops make 'several' arrests
by u/TheMirrorUS in interestingasfuck
(The Last Resort)
As of this writing, the post on Reddit had gained 19,000 upvotes and 1,800 comments.
As we will see, the photograph is authentic and the story is true.
Switzerland is a country where assisted suicide is legal . Assisted suicide entails providing a person with the substances required to end their life, according to Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice. The person must take them on their own in order to die, as opposed to having someone else administer them — something known as euthanasia. The reason for assisting a person in ending their life cannot be "selfish," according to Swiss law. Some forms of euthanasia — indirect active euthanasia, such as administering drugs that might help shorten someone's life, such as morphine, or passive euthanasia, such as removing life-maintaining measures — are also legal in Switzerland.
In order to benefit from assisted suicide provisions in Switzerland, a person needs to show they have an incurable illness and are close to death, that they endure extreme suffering, even if death is not imminent, or that they suffer from invalidating pathologies due to aging. The person who chooses to die must have the ability to clearly consent.
Switzerland attracts many people from abroad, something the media has coined " suicide tourism ."
The "suicide pod" has the brand name " Sarco Pod ." Invented by Dr. Philip Nitschke, the founder of Exit International — an organization that helps people die painlessly and peacefully — the device looks like a futuristic coffin. Once inside, the person who wishes to die can press a button to release nitrogen, a gas that quickly brings about death. The organization and its founder imagined this device to help Tony Nicklinson, a British man with Locked-In Syndrome, a whole-body paralysis that prevented him from taking pills orally. For Nicklinson, Exit International explored the possibility of a device activated with an eye blink, according to The Independent .
The Sarco Pod had reportedly never been used before the 64-year-old U.S. woman used it to take her own life on Sept. 23, 2024, in Merishausen, in northern Switzerland, close to the German border. The pod was marketed as portable , which presumably made it possible to take it into a forest. We contacted Exit International for more details on the events that took place.
Swiss authorities arrested "several people" who'd assisted this suicide, arguing the device had not been cleared for use in Switzerland. Nitschke had told the AP in 2021 that a legal consultant confirmed use of this device in Switzerland did not require " formal authorization or licensing. "
In a statement , the organization The Last Resort, whose co-president Dr. Florian Willet was present at the suicide, said Willet had been alone for the death:
On Monday 23 September, at approximately 16.01 CEST, a 64-year old woman from the mid west in the USA died using the Sarco device.
Dr. Florian Willet, copresident of The Last Resort Association and who was the sole person present for the death, described her passing as 'peaceful, fast and dignified'.
The death took place in open air, under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat in the Canton of Schaffhausen close to the Swiss-German border.
'Ann' (not her real name) had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise.
After monitoring events closely, Sarco inventor, Dr. Philip Nitschke, said he was 'pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed to do: that is to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person's choosing'.
The Last Resort Advisory Board member and lawyer, Dr. Fiona Stewart has said that The Last Resort was acting at all times on the legal advice of their lawyers.
Legal advice since 2021 has consistently found that the use of Sarco in Switzerland would be lawful.
Sources:
justice, Office fédéral de la. Les différentes formes d'assistance au décès et leur réglementation légale. https://www.bj.admin.ch/bj/fr/home/gesellschaft/gesetzgebung/archiv/sterbehilfe/formen.html . Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Media | The Last Resort. https://www.thelastresort.ch/contact/media/ . Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
'No, Switzerland Has Not Approved a "Suicide Capsule"'. AP News, 9 Dec. 2021, https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-993202650845 .
Portable – Sarco. 4 June 2019, https://www.exitinternational.net/sarco/portable/ .
'Press Releases Archives'. Exit International, https://www.exitinternational.net/category/press-releases/ . Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Reyes, Ronny. Sarco 'suicide Pod' Gave Chilling Command before American Woman Took Her Own Life. 24 Sept. 2024, https://nypost.com/2024/09/24/world-news/sarco-suicide-pod-gave-chilling-command-before-american-woman-took-her-own-life/ .
'Suicide Machine Kills Users in the Blink of an Eye'. The Independent, 1 Apr. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/suicide-machine-assisted-dying-euthanasia-debate-uk-clinic-sarco-nitschke-a8307741.html .
'Swiss Police Detain Several People in Connection with Suspected Death in a "Suicide Capsule"'. AP News, 24 Sept. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-suicide-capsule-people-detained-06d38d708d8b8b4b771bb2df047adfd0 .
Local News
