Jump to content

Sarco Suicide Pod

bolverk

By bolverk
in Daily Texan

 Share

Recommended Posts

bolverk

bolverk 29644

Posted
Posted

The first person to use it was an American woman from the Midwest.

Swiss police detain several people in connection with suspected death in a ‘suicide capsule’

Image

Image

GENEVA (AP) — Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people have been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a “suicide capsule.”

The “Sarco” capsule, which has never been used before, is presumably designed to allow a person sitting in a reclining seat inside to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die by suffocation in a few minutes.

Exit International, an assisted suicide group based in the Netherlands, said it is behind the 3D-printed device that cost over $1 million to develop.

Swiss law allows assisted suicide so long as the person takes his or her life with no “external assistance” and those who help the person die do not do so for “any self-serving motive,” according to a government website.

___ EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. The Swiss government refers queries about suicide prevention to a group called “Dargebotene Hand,” or The Offered Hand.

A law firm informed prosecutors in Schaffhausen canton that an “assisted suicide” involving the Sarco had taken place Monday near a forest cabin in Merishausen, regional police said in a statement, adding that “several people” were taken into custody and prosecutors opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement and accessory to suicide.

Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported Tuesday that police had detained one of its photographers who wanted to take pictures of the use of the Sarco. It said Schaffhausen police had indicated the photographer was being held at a police station but declined to give a further explanation.

The newspaper declined to comment further when contacted by the Associated Press.

In an email, the Dutch Foreign Ministry told the AP that it was in contact with the newspaper and Swiss officials.

“As always, we cannot interfere in the legal process of another country. At the same time, the Netherlands stands firmly for press freedom. It is very important that journalists worldwide can do their work freely,” it said.

Exit International, the group behind the Sarco, said in a statement a 64-year-old woman from the U.S. Midwest — it did not specify further — who had suffered from “severe immune compromise” had died Monday afternoon near the German border using the Sarco device.

It said Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort, a Swiss affiliate of Exit International, was the only person present and described her death as “peaceful, fast and dignified.”

Dr. Philip Nitschke, an Australian-born trained doctor behind Exit International, has previously told the AP that his organization received advice from lawyers in Switzerland that the use of the Sarco would be legal in the country.

In the Exit International statement on Tuesday, Nitschke said he was “pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed ... to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person’s choosing.”

The claims of Nitschke and Exit International could not be independently verified.

On Monday, Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider was asked in Swiss parliament about the legal conditions for the use of the Sarco capsule, and suggested its use would not be legal.

“On one hand, it does not fulfill the demands of the product safety law, and as such, must not be brought into circulation,” she said. “On the other hand, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the article on purpose in the chemicals law.”

In July, Swiss newspaper Blick reported that Peter Sticher, a state prosecutor in Schaffhausen, wrote to Exit International’s lawyers saying any operator of the suicide capsule could face criminal proceedings if it was used there — and any conviction could bring up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors in other Swiss regions have also indicated that the use of the suicide capsule could lead to prosecution.

Over the summer, a 54-year-old U.S. woman with multiple health ailments had planned to be the first person to use the device, but those plans were abandoned.

Switzerland is among the only countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives and has a number of organizations that are dedicated to helping people kill themselves. But unlike others, including the Netherlands, Switzerland does not allow euthanasia, which involves healthcare practitioners killing patients with a lethal injection at their request and in specific circumstances.

Some lawmakers in Switzerland have argued that the law is unclear and have sought to close what they call legal loopholes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
royiv

royiv 9241

Posted
Posted

Wife and I have a close friend whose best friend from growing up recently traveled to Switzerland for assisted suicide. Didn’t inform her family or anyone she knew beforehand. Her family wasn’t even able to get her body back due to international issues. Super sad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Deej

Deej 76750

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

I'll never understand why we can take our ill pets to a vet and put them down humanely, but we can't do this lest we upset the invisible man in the sky that didn't give a shit about us.

Insurance company don't want to lose that sweet hospitalization money. Have you seen how much nurses earn?

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89618

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

I'll never understand why we can take our ill pets to a vet and put them down humanely, but we can't do this lest we upset the invisible man in the sky that didn't give a shit about us.

We can do this for our relatives ourselves, but we just have to clean up any signs of struggle and make sure it looks like they did it to themselves.

 

  • Haha 1
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
52-80

52-80 19142

Posted
Posted

1. why does it cost $1M to develop...a sealed pod with nitrogen dispenser. $50 rubbermaid trash can and $10 for rubber gasket. y/w.

2. why must one fly oneself to the other side of a globe just to kill oneself? that's like, the lowest cost activity doable in a thousand ways.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aqua Buddha

Aqua Buddha 14581

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, DaysOff said:

I'll never understand why we can take our ill pets to a vet and put them down humanely, but we can't do this lest we upset the invisible man in the sky that didn't give a shit about us.

The last few years, I’ve watched my father and father in law suffer through long, slow, deaths.  After seeing this up close and personal, you’ll never be able convince me that assisted suicide shouldn’t be an option.

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock 7343

Posted
Posted
1. why does it cost $1M to develop...a sealed pod with nitrogen dispenser. $50 rubbermaid trash can and $10 for rubber gasket. y/w.
2. why must one fly oneself to the other side of a globe just to kill oneself? that's like, the lowest cost activity doable in a thousand ways.

$25 for lime sulfur, Muriatic acid and a bucket. Sit in your car, roll the windows up and turn AC off. Mix sulfur and acid in bucket in floorboard of car. Take deep breaths until you don’t anymore. Voila.

Just be considerate enough to tape a note to the window so an unsuspecting do-gooder doesn’t get a whiff of it.
  • Haha 1
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
52-80

52-80 19142

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Herbie Hancock said:


$25 for lime sulfur, Muriatic acid and a bucket. Sit in your car, roll the windows up and turn AC off. Mix sulfur and acid in bucket in floorboard of car. Take deep breaths until you don’t anymore. Voila.

Just be considerate enough to tape a note to the window so an unsuspecting do-gooder doesn’t get a whiff of it.

And your family wont have the burden of flying your corpse back across the ocean. Cargo aint cheap. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ten Bears

Ten Bears 2479

Posted
Posted

Nitrogen asphyxiation didn't work so well for for that Alabama prisoner.  

https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-alabama-inmate-lawsuit-7043bff9563f99d083b189ff7d39253c

Quote

Smith shook in thrashing spasms and seizure-like movements for several minutes at the start of the execution. The force of his movements caused the gurney to visibly move at least once. Reporters from The Associated Press, al.com, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Alabama Reflector and WHNT attended the execution as media witnesses.

“In stark contrast to the Attorney General’s representations, the five media witnesses chosen by the Alabama Department of Corrections and present at Mr. Smith’s execution recounted a prolonged period of consciousness marked by shaking, struggling, and writhing by Mr. Smith for several minutes after the nitrogen gas started flowing,” the lawsuit stated.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aqua Buddha

Aqua Buddha 14581

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Dilligas said:

Know a couple ex nurses, they have their cocktails ready when needed. For themselves, no long term suffering for them

A lot of doctors are the same.  

I hate to be crass here but we're not changing the ending.  We're prolonging the suffering.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock 7343

Posted
Posted
Nitrogen asphyxiation didn't work so well for for that Alabama prisoner.  
https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-alabama-inmate-lawsuit-7043bff9563f99d083b189ff7d39253c

Smith shook in thrashing spasms and seizure-like movements for several minutes at the start of the execution. The force of his movements caused the gurney to visibly move at least once. Reporters from The Associated Press, al.com, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Alabama Reflector and WHNT attended the execution as media witnesses.

“In stark contrast to the Attorney General’s representations, the five media witnesses chosen by the Alabama Department of Corrections and present at Mr. Smith’s execution recounted a prolonged period of consciousness marked by shaking, struggling, and writhing by Mr. Smith for several minutes after the nitrogen gas started flowing,” the lawsuit stated.

 

Asphyxiation by any means isn’t a pleasant experience. I’m not against the death penalty at all, but this is cruel and absurd. Whoever allowed this to be a means of execution has hopefully not procreated and released even more stupid upon this earth.
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CHIEF

CHIEF 5075

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

 

Asphyxiation by any means isn’t a pleasant experience. I’m not against the death penalty at all, but this is cruel and absurd. Whoever allowed this to be a means of execution has hopefully not procreated and released even more stupid upon this earth.

Why? If someone kills someone in a slow, miserable, and painful way, why do they deserve an effortless, painful, and pleasant death?

CHIEF

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WBT

WBT 20559

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Herbie Hancock said:

 

Asphyxiation by any means isn’t a pleasant experience. I’m not against the death penalty at all, but this is cruel and absurd. Whoever allowed this to be a means of execution has hopefully not procreated and released even more stupid upon this earth.

I was told one breath death?  Never known the plant safety guy to be full of shit before

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Murfdogg21

Murfdogg21 4412

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

My main takeaway from this story is that some egotistical dipshit is going to use that to try to dive down to the Titanic soon.

Even with a response like the Alabama death row fella, probably a better way to go than implosion in a Xbox-controlled Titan sub can surrounded by douchebags. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
royiv

royiv 9241

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, CHIEF said:

Why? If someone kills someone in a slow, miserable, and painful way, why do they deserve an effortless, painful, and pleasant death?

CHIEF

No kink shaming here that you get off to torture. Just make sure you have your VPN fired up.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
956 Worldwide

956 Worldwide 34695

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

 

Asphyxiation by any means isn’t a pleasant experience. I’m not against the death penalty at all, but this is cruel and absurd. Whoever allowed this to be a means of execution has hopefully not procreated and released even more stupid upon this earth.

There are any number of near-painless and instant ways of killing people, but governments persist in pseudo-medical executions to obfuscate the reality of the state taking a life. 
 

A firing squad or guillotine is foolproof and more humane. I don’t love the death penalty, and if we are going to use it then we shouldn’t look away from what we are doing. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BurntEyes

BurntEyes 5955

Posted
Posted
On 9/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, DaysOff said:

I'll never understand why we can take our ill pets to a vet and put them down humanely, but we can't do this lest we upset the invisible man in the sky that didn't give a shit about us.

Well you can in some states. Oregon specifically allows for assisted suicide and you don't have to be from the state, just a US citizen, as i understand the Oregon law. I'm sure Surly lawyers will tell me why I am wrong.

Oregon Assisted Suicide Law

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TexArcher

TexArcher 37761

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Why? If someone kills someone in a slow, miserable, and painful way, why do they deserve an effortless, painful, and pleasant death?

CHIEF

You aren't even a little bit afraid of a state that takes violent, cruel, sociopathic retribution on a citizen that does something wrong?

  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105043

Posted
Posted
You aren't even a little bit afraid of a state that takes violent, cruel, sociopathic retribution on a citizen that does something wrong?

My favorite part of the pro-capital punishment types - people who cheer for the government taking the ultimate and irrevocable action of ending a human life - is that those people are, with close to 100% overlap, the same folks who shout that the government is completely incompetent and shouldn’t be entrusted with our tax dollars.
Trust the government with $1? NO FUCKING WAY!
Trust the government to decide who lives and dies? SIGN ME UP!
  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 1
  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18001

Posted
Posted
Insurance company don't want to lose that sweet hospitalization money. Have you seen how much nurses earn?

The goal isn’t to pay out money. I’m surprised the insurance industry hasn’t been marketing their own suicide pods. Let people kill themselves before they make any more insurance claims.
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Deej

Deej 76750

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:


The goal isn’t to pay out money. I’m surprised the insurance industry hasn’t been marketing their own suicide pods. Let people kill themselves before they make any more insurance claims.

Then they only get to fucking screw you over the one time. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...