The controversial Sarco sucide capsule, often known as the “Tesla of euthanasia,” is no longer in use, merely weeks after an American woman took her own life using the device.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, the creator and director of Exit International, a nonprofit that supports assisted suicide, is credited with creating the Sarco. On September 24, 2024, it was used for the first time to end the life of a Midwesterner lady, 64, who had impaired immune system.
According to Swiss officials, the Sarco was not authorised at the time it was used to murder the unidentified American.
The National Review claims that all 371 active applications have been suspended and that a criminal investigation into the pod is still ongoing.
One of the rare nations that allows tourists to legally end their lives under assisted suicide practices—which don’t need a doctor but can involve outside assistance—is Switzerland.
In order to utilise the pod, the user must activate it themself. A hushed voice instructs the user to click a button if they “want to die.”
When the capsule is pressed, a flood of nitrogen is released, dragging the user’s oxygen levels to lethal heights till they finally experience hypoxia before asphyxiating.
“When she entered the Sarco, she almost immediately pressed the button,” Nitschke said, according to the National Review.
“She didn’t say anything. She really wanted to d!e. My estimate is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes. We saw jerky, small twitches of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then. It looked exactly how we expected it to look.”
Police arrested several people connected to the American’s death, including a Dutch photographer covering the assisted suic!de.
It is not known if Nitschke was among those arrested.
