The inventor of the Sarco capsule has called for the euthanasia device to be introduced in the UK and has contacted politicians campaigning for assisted dying to be legalised, it has emerged.
Dr Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia advocate behind the capsule, has reportedly been in contact with MP Liam McArthur, who is seeking to legalise assisted dying in Scotland.
Mr. McArthur has introduced legislation that would give mentally competent people aged 16 or older with a terminal illness the right to end their lives, pending independent evaluations by two physicians.
Dr Nitschke wrote to the Liberal Democrat MP urging him to introduce the device if the legislation is passed. The telegraph information.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats said in a statement that McArthur “does not support Dr Nitschke’s proposals”, adding that they had not responded to him.
This comes after arrests were made at the Sarco launch in a forest in Switzerland on Monday, with a 64-year-old American woman believed to be the first person to die in the capsule.
Philip Nitschke is seen inside a ‘suicide pod’ known as ‘The Sarco’ in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 8, 2024
Sarco inventor Philip Nitschke, often nicknamed Doctor Doom, pictured at a press conference in Zurich on July 17
MP Liam McArthur has introduced legislation that would give mentally competent people aged 16 or over with a terminal illness the right to end their lives.
The Sarco is designed to allow the person inside to press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person falls asleep and dies of asphyxiation within minutes.
According to The Last Resort, the company behind the project, around 120 applicants are hoping to use the machine to end their lives and around a quarter of those on the waiting list are said to be British.
Among those hoping to travel to use the device are a former RAF engineer and his wife, who revealed to the Mail they had signed up to become the first couple to use a double suicide capsule.
Peter and Christine Scott, who have been married for 46 years, made the decision after former nurse Christine, 80, was recently diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
Like the single-person capsule, The Last Resort said the two-person capsule would be built using a 3D printer and could be ready for use in early January, pending the first successful use of the capsule.
Dr Nitschke said Monday’s launch went “as expected” and told Dutch media: “I assume he lost consciousness after two minutes and died after five minutes.”
The mother of two from the Midwest is believed to have been suffering from “a very serious illness involving severe pain” and had wanted to die for “at least two years.”
After being notified of her death, police were called to the woods, where they discovered the woman’s lifeless body inside the capsule and arrested several people.
Among those arrested is said to be Dr Florian Willet, director of The Last Resort, who is still in police custody.
Last Resort cast member Fiona Stewart poses next to the Sarco suicide machine in July.
In July, Willet said Switzerland was “by far the best place” to use Sarco, because of its “wonderful liberal system.”
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK, although support for a change in the law has been growing.
The Prime Minister has said he supports a change in the law and is committed to giving MPs a free vote on legalising assisted dying.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats said McArthur’s bill had received “broad public support and growing parliamentary and medical support”.
They added in a statement that McArthur “does not support Dr. Nitschke’s proposals and has not entered into any correspondence with him.”
“Many dying people feel abandoned by the current law, forced to take matters into their own hands, alone and behind closed doors. The ‘Sarco’ does not solve this problem, it perpetuates it,” he added.
Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.
The ‘Sarco’ capsule, which according to its creators allows its occupant to press a button and trigger his own death.
It allows assisted suicide as long as the person takes his or her own life without “outside help” and those helping the person to die are not doing so for “any selfish motive,” according to a government website.
The device was used on the same day that Swiss Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the National Council that she considers the use of the Sarco to be illegal in Switzerland.
“The Sarco suicide capsule is illegal on two counts,” Baume-Schneider reportedly said.
“On the one hand, it does not comply with the requirements of the product safety law and therefore should not be put into circulation,” he explained.
‘Moreover, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemical Substances Act.’
Some lawmakers in Switzerland have argued that the law is unclear and have sought to close what they call loopholes.
Fiona Stewart, who is married to Nitschke and is a board member and advisor to The Last Resort, said they want Sarco to become an established and accessible option for euthanasia.
Speaking to MailOnline earlier this month, he said: “Our hope would be to make it available to the right people on a regular basis.”
He said the launch of the Sarco would happen soon and that they expected an investigation.
Peter and Christine Scott told the Mail earlier this month that they made the decision to end their lives at the same time.
A view of the Sarco suicide machine, a 3D-printed capsule that gives the user maximum control over the moment of their death.
“We hope that the investigation and the investigation will go well after its use and that the prosecutor of the corresponding canton will consider it appropriate for Sarco to be another option for foreigners in Switzerland,” he said.
The public prosecutor in Schaffhausen, the canton where the device was used on Monday, said Sarco’s creators had been warned not to use it in the region, but the warning had not been heeded.
“We warned them in writing,” prosecutor Peter Sticher told Swiss media. “We told them that if they came to Schaffhausen and used Sarco, they would face criminal consequences.”
The cantonal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday it had opened “criminal proceedings against several people for inducing and aiding and abetting suicide… and several people have been placed in police custody.”
Sarco’s first planned launch was aborted in July after the first person to travel to Switzerland to use it went missing.
It was later confirmed that American Jennifer McLaughlin, 55, had died after seeking help in dying from another assisted dying organisation.
View of the O2 detector and pure nitrogen release button on the Sarco suicide machine
The Last Resort and its partners Exit International, led by Nitschke, promote Sarco as a free-to-use device that gives people autonomy over their death.
The 3D-printable capsule, which has been tested in a Rotterdam workshop, cost more than 650,000 euros ($725,000) in research and development in the Netherlands over 12 years. The future Sarcos could cost around 15,000 euros.
To use the Sarco, the person who wishes to die must first undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The person gets into the purple capsule, closes the lid and is asked automated questions such as who they are, where they are and whether they know what happens when they press the button.
In July, Nitschke explained that once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air drops from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds.
The Sarco monitors the oxygen level in the capsule, the person’s heart rate, and the oxygen saturation of the blood.
Nitschke’s Exit International, which owns the Sarco, is a non-profit organisation funded by donations. The only cost to the user is 18 Swiss francs (£16) for the nitrogen.
UK: For help and support, call the Samaritans free of charge from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
US: If you or someone you know needs help, the US National Suicide and Crisis Helpline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.