In Switzerland, several people were taken into custody after the controversial Sarco suicide pod was used to end a woman’s life.
Key points
- The capsule had been used on September 23, 2024 at a forest hut, after which several people were taken into custody who are now facing criminal proceedings for “aiding and abetting suicide”.
- The Last Resort organisation, an assisted dying group, said in a statement that a 64-year-old woman from the U.S., who was not named, died using the Sarco device.
- The capsule has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland, where active euthanasia is banned but assisted dying has been legal for decades.
- The Sarco capsule was first unveiled in 2019. It is a portable, human-sized pod which replaces the oxygen inside it with nitrogen, causing death by hypoxia. It is self-operated by a button on the inside, providing death without medical supervision.
- Switzerland’s Interior Minister said in parliament that the Sarco suicide capsule was not legally compliant in two respects; Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law… Secondly, the use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act.
