'Suicide Machine' Approved For Use In Switzerland: How Does It Work?

A 3D-printed machine designed for use in assisted suicide can now operate in Switzerland after it passed a year-long legal review, its creators said.

The Sarco – short for sarcophagus – is a coffin-shaped capsule developed by the organization Exit International that allows occupants to kill themselves, The Independent reported.

"[The] review has been completed, and we’re very pleased with the result, which found that we hadn’t overlooked anything," Dr. Philip Nitschke, founder of pro-euthanasia and pro-assisted suicide non-profit organization Exit International, told Swissinfo.ch.

"The capsule is sitting on a piece of equipment that will flood the interior with nitrogen, rapidly reducing the oxygen level to 1% from 21% in about 30 seconds," he explained.

The minimum oxygen concentration in the air required for human breathing is 19.5%. Users will "feel a little disoriented and may feel slightly euphoric before they lose consciousness" following the drop in oxygen level, Nitschke said.

Death occurs through hypoxia and hypocapnia – the deprivation of oxygen and carbon dioxide, respectively – between 5 to 10 minutes after losing consciousness. Nitschke said the person inside the capsule will not feel panic or a choking feeling during the process.

The Sarco can be activated from the inside after the user enters the capsule and lies down. They will then be asked a number of questions before being given the option to activate the capsule by pressing a button inside it in their own time, Nitschke explained.

The device can also be activated by blinking if the person suffers from locked-in syndrome, The Independent reported.

Nitschke said the capsule can be towed anywhere, whether it be an idyllic outdoor setting or the premises of an assisted suicide organization.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, and around 1,300 people in the European nation reportedly used the euthanasia services of the country's two largest assisted suicide organizations, Exit, which has no connection to Exit International, and Dignitas, last year.

Both firms – unlike Sarco – use an ingestible liquid barbiturate drug to induce a deep coma that is followed by death.

Nitschke sought advice on the legality of using his Sarco capsule in Switzerland for assisted dying last year. The review later found that "there are no legal issues at all" to using the device.

The machine, however, has faced opposition from anti-euthanasia campaigners due to its futuristic design, which some said glamorized suicide, and use of gas. He previously told The Independent that gas "may never be an acceptable method for assisted suicide in Europe due to the negative connotations of the Holocaust."

Two Sarco prototypes currently exist, with one being displayed at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel, Germany, until August 2022, while the other one ended up not being "aesthetically pleasing," Nitschke said.

A third machine is currently being printed in the Netherlands and should be ready for operation in Switzerland by 2022 "if all goes well," according to Nitschke.

"Barring any unforeseen difficulties, we hope to be ready to make Sarco available for use in Switzerland next year. It’s been a very expensive project so far, but we think we’re pretty close to implementation now," Nitschke said.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.