Switzerland's ‘suicide pod’ suspended after US woman's death | Controversy explained

The use of ‘suicide pods’ or ‘suicide capsules’ in Switzerland has been suspended after a criminal investigation was launched over the death of a US woman.

The use of ‘suicide pods’ or ‘suicide capsules’ in Switzerland has been suspended after a criminal investigation was launched over the death of a 64-year-old American woman, who was the first to use it. According to advocacy groups, over 370 people were in the process of applying to use the pods, also known as ‘Sarco’. All the applications have now been suspended.

The 'suicide pod’ from Switzerland

What are ‘suicide pods’ and what is the controversy behind it?

1. The ‘suicide pod or capsule’ is a device in which a person sits in a reclining seat, falls asleep and then dies by suffocation in a few minutes. The person is required to push a button that injects nitrogen gas from a tank underneath into the sealed chamber. ‘Exit International's’ - a non-profit group funded by donations - founder Dr Philip Nitschke is behind the 3D-printed device that cost over $1 million.
2. The portable human-sized pod, providing death without medical supervision, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. The controversy over it began last month when a 64-year-old woman from the US died after she used the chamber in a forest in the northern Schaffhausen region near the German border.
3. According to the ‘Last Resort’ organisation - who had presented the Sarco pod in Zurich in July - the woman was suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise. “The death took place in open air, under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat,” it said in a statement. The organisation's co-president, Florian Willet, was the only other person present near the pod, reported AFP. Willet described the woman's death as “peaceful, fast, and dignified”.
4. Following the woman's death, the Swiss police arrested Willet and several other people associated with it. The police seized the Sarco suicide capsule, and the deceased was taken away for an autopsy.
5. On the same day the woman died, Swiss health minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told parliament that the use of the Sarco would not be legal. However, the founding organisation of the capsule said that its lawyers in Switzerland believe the usage of the device is legal.

(With inputs from agencies)