Switzerland Legalises 3D-Printed Euthanasia Pods For Assisted Suicide

Switzerland has legalised the use of 3D-printed pods that allow people to end their life. The Sarco suicide pod allows a user to lie down and activate the process themselves within a matter of minutes. Switzerland’s medical review board announced the legalisation of the Sarco suicide pods this month (Dec '21). Currently, assisted suicide in Switzerland means swallowing a capsule filled with a cocktail of controlled substances that put the person into a deep coma before they die. But Sarco pods allow a person to control their death inside the pod by quickly reducing internal oxygen levels. Nitrogen fills the device, quickly bringing oxygen down from 21 percent to only 1 percent in about 30 seconds. A “disorientated” and “euphoric” feeling then follows, before they eventually lose consciousness. Death takes place due to hypoxia (low oxygen in the body’s tissues) and hypocapnia (reduced carbon dioxide in the blood) followed by critical oxygen and carbon dioxide deprivation. After death, the pod can be used as a coffin. Around 1,300 people ended their life using assisted suicide in Switzerland last year.