Switzerland has given legal approval of a coffin-shaped capsule that allows occupants to kill themselves. The process takes less than a minute, and death occurs through hypoxia and hypocapnia, which is intended to allow a person to die relatively peacefully and painlessly.
The Independent reports that the Sarco (short for sarcophagus) machine can be operated from the inside – conceivably just by blinking if the person suffers from locked-in syndrome – and works by reducing the oxygen level in the pod to below a critical level.
In Switzerland, some 1,300 people used the services of euthanasia organisations Dignitas and Exit last year. Both firms use ingestible liquid barbiturate drug to induce a deep coma within two to five minutes, followed by death.
The suicide pod is the creation of Dr Philip Nitschke, dubbed “Dr Death”, who serves as the director of the non-profit organisation Exit International (no connection to Exit). The Sarco is designed to be towed to a location of the user’s preference, like an idyllic outdoor setting, and then the biodegradable capsule can detach from the base to serve as a coffin.
It has drawn criticism due to its futuristic design, which some say glamorises suicide, as well as a corresponding virtual reality app that allows people to ‘experience their own virtual death’. Only two Sarco prototypes currently exist but Exit International is 3D- printing a third machine that it hopes to be ready for operation in Switzerland next year.
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