3D-printed pod for assisted dying seeking launch in Switzerland

A 3D-printed device for voluntary assisted dying is seeking launch in Switzerland.

Called "Sarco," the device is a capsule which utilizes nitrogen gas to make the user unconscious and eventually run out of oxygen to breathe.

Assisted dying is legally condoned in Switzerland, provided that it is done for unselfish reasons.

"The benefit for the person who uses it is that they don't have to get any permission, they don't need some special doctor to try and get a needle in, and they don't need to get difficult drugs," said Philip Nitschke, the inventor of Sarco.

Potentials users have to answer an online test run by artificial intelligence to measure their mental capacity to make the decision to end their life.

"We want to remove any kind of psychiatric review from the process and allow the individual to control the method themselves," Nitschke said.

Nitschke is the founder of Exit International, a non-profit organization that believes "control over one's life and death" is a fundamental human right.

Public response to the Sarco is varied. Some said it can help end the suffering of terminally ill patients so they can have dignity in death. Some critics, however, said it is a "glorified gas chamber" that harks back to the Holocaust.

Euthanasia, which is sometimes called "mercy killing," remains illegal in most countries, including the Philippines.

According to Dignitas, another non-profit advocating for dignity in death, assisted dying is differentiated from active euthanasia in Switzerland.

"Euthanasia implies putting down someone on his or her request. This is prohibited in Switzerland," Dignitas said on its website.

Exit International, meanwhile, said that according to the Swiss Criminal Code, "anyone can help someone else to die as long as their motives are altruistic." 

If you or anyone you know need to talk to someone, Hopeline, the 24/7 suicide prevention hotline, may be reached at (02) 8804-4673; 0917-5584673.

—MGP, GMA News