After a woman died by suicide using the Sarco pod, a euthanasia capsule, in a Swiss forest, the local authorities have arrested several people in connection with the death.
The deceased was identified as a 64-year-old American woman who had been suffering from a compromised immune system.
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland. However, Swiss minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said the suicide pod failed to meet the requirements of product safety law and the using nitrogen for euthanasia is not legally compliant.
Who invented Sarco pod?
The Sarco pod, which is short for sarcophagus, is commonly referred to as suicide pod. It was invented by Australian euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke in 2017. He designed it with the help of Dutch industrial designer Alexander Bannink.
How Sarco pod works?
The self-operated machine delivers 'a peaceful, quick and dignified death'. Once a person enters the pod, they have to answer a few questions. Following this, the person has to push a button. This reduces the oxygen level and releases nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. This causes the person to fall asleep and die by suffocation within minutes.
Sarco had earlier consulted legal expert Daniel Huerlimann, who is an assistant professor at the University of St Gallen, over legality of the suicide pod in Switzerland. According to him, the Sarco was not a medical device and hence it does not come under the purview of the Swiss Therapeutic Products Act.
Nitschke had earlier hinted that use of nitrogen may not be acceptable in Europe due to negative connotations of the Holocaust, adding that some have called it a "glorified gas chamber".
