Doctors Prepare to Test "Suicide Pod"

And apparently, people are lining up to use it.

Eerie Way Out

Cue the controversy, because Switzerland is about to test the world's first portable "suicide pod."

Known as Sarco, its sleek design is meant to take away from some of the uneasiness around assisted suicide. Arguably, though, the jarring contrast between its looks and its morbid purpose makes the whole thing feel even eerier.

The assisted-suicide device was first unveiled in 2019 by its divisive inventor Philip Nitschke, and its use has since been championed by The Last Resort, a newly formed euthanasia organization — which is now saying that the Sarco pod will be tested "soon."

"Since we have people indeed queueing up, asking to use the Sarco, it's very likely that it will take place pretty soon," CEO Florian Willet told a press conference, as quoted by NDTV. "I cannot imagine a more beautiful way (to die), of breathing air without oxygen until falling into an eternal sleep."

Press to Kill

How the pod works is this: a person who has consented to end their own life lies down inside, the lid is closed, and a button is pressed that replaces oxygen with nitrogen in the chamber. Gradually, they lose consciousness, and "peacefully" die of hypoxia within 10 minutes.

The easy, tech-inflected design of Sarco has caused an ethical and legal stir in Switzerland. Assisted suicide is legal there, but only if it's administered by the patient themselves — not by a third party.

Technically, the pod is designed to be activated by the patient, either through a button or through gestures, voice controls, or even a blink. But as Swiss public prosecutor Peter Stiche argued last week, "there is no reliable information about the method of killing."

"[It is] completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process," he told the Swiss newspaper Blick, as quoted by The Independent.

Tough Questions

Assisted suicide is a fraught subject, and the fact that the Sarco pod offers it at a literal button push — and at a mere 18 francs, or $20 — is bound to inflame debates further.

It's understandable why assisted forms of suicide should be available to someone afflicted by a terminal, painful disease, for example, but many argue that giving such easy access to it could be dangerous.

"What if it is accessed by someone not in their right mind?" Stephen Duckworth, the founder of Disability Matters Global, wrote in an opinion piece for The Independent in 2021. "Or a child? Or if it is used to abuse others? What if it doesn't result in immediate or peaceful death and the individual is left alone without any recourse to call for help?"

The Last Resort hasn't disclosed who the pod's first user will be, but it expects that the test will take place later this year.

More on assisted suicide: Couple Gets Assisted Suicide Together