The Swiss police said they had detained “several individuals” after a 64-year-old American woman reportedly died by suicide using the controversia

In Switzerland, Reported Use of Suicide Capsule Inflames Debate

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2024-09-25 20:00:02

The Swiss police said they had detained “several individuals” after a 64-year-old American woman reportedly died by suicide using the controversial device.

The authorities in northern Switzerland said they were investigating a reported assisted suicide using a controversial device that replaces oxygen with lethal nitrogen gas.

A 64-year-old American was reported to have died by assisted suicide in a remote forest in northern Switzerland with the help of two right-to-die groups that facilitated her use of a Sarco capsule, a coffin-sized, air-tight pod with a large window, according to the capsule’s inventor. The device, which can be transported to a location of a user’s choosing, has an interior button that replaces life-giving oxygen with fatal nitrogen, killing the person in minutes. The inventor of the device said it was the first time it had been used.

The capsule was used on Monday in a remote, mountainous area north of Zurich, near the German border. The woman was said to have suffered for years from an autoimmune condition, the manufacturers of the pod said.