Content warning: This story is about assisted suicide.
Several people in northern Switzerland have been arrested following a death inside a "suicide pod."
As the Associated Press reports, local law enforcement has opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement and accessory to suicide using the pod, which is called Sarco.
That's despite Swiss law technically allowing for assisted suicide. However, the person taking their own life must strictly do so on their own accord without any "external assistance."
According to the report, prosecutors had gotten wind of an "assisted suicide" near a forest cabin.
Per a statement by assisted suicide group Exit International, the person who died using the Sarco was a 64-year-old woman from the US.
It appears to be the first use of the highly controversial device, which could kick off a heated debate over possible loopholes in Swiss assisted suicide law.
In a statement to Agence France-Presse by Swiss Exit International subsidiary The Last Resort, which has championed the development of the pod, the woman "had been suffering for many years from a number of serious problems associated with severe immune compromise."
"The death took place in open air, under a canopy of trees, at a private forest retreat," the statement reads.
The pod was invented by Australian-born doctor Philip Nitschke. It works by allowing the person within it to push a button to inject nitrogen gas into the chamber, causing them to die from suffocation shortly after.
The Sarco is also designed to be 3D-printed and constructed at home, which could greatly expand access to the life-taking tech.
The device was shown off at an event in Zurich back in July.
"Since we have people indeed queueing up, asking to use the Sarco, it's very likely that it will take place pretty soon," The Last Resort CEO Florian Willet told reporters at the time, as quoted by NDTV. "I cannot imagine a more beautiful way (to die), of breathing air without oxygen until falling into an eternal sleep."
Now that the device has been used for its first death, the group is calling it a success. According to a new statement by Willet, the woman's death was "peaceful, fast and dignified."
In a previous interview, Nitschke told the AP that lawyers had reassured him that the Sarco would be legal to use in Switzerland. However, when reporters asked health minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider about the device earlier this week, she had a different answer.
"On one hand, it does not fulfill the demands of the product safety law, and as such, must not be brought into circulation," she said, as quoted by the AP. "On the other hand, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the article on purpose in the chemicals law."
As the BBC reports, critics of the Sarco have said that its sleek design could glamorize suicide. Others have also pointed out safety concerns over the fact that it can be used without any medical oversight.
There are only a handful of nations that have passed human euthanasia policies. According to the Swiss Criminal Code of 1942, adults are permitted to assist in somebody else's suicide as long as their motives are not "selfish." Assisted suicide is also not dependent on the current condition of the person.
However, healthcare practitioners are not allowed to inject a lethal dose of a drug to kill patients. As the AP points out, lawmakers say the law isn't clear on the subject. The latest incident could accelerate these discussions, forcing them to reevaluate.
More on the device: Doctors Prepare to Test "Suicide Pod"
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