Switzerland Approves Assisted 'Suicide Capsule'

[left-of-center2012]

(Title calls it a 'capsule', and article a 'pod', but then describes it as a 3-D-printed portable coffin-like capsule with windows for use during the suicide)

Switzerland has just legalized a new way to die by assisted suicide. The country’s medical review board has just given authorization for use of the 'Sarco Suicide Pod', which is a 3-D-printed portable coffin-like capsule with windows that can be transported to a tranquil place for a person’s final moments of life.

Conventional assisted-suicide methods have generally involved a chemical substance. Inventor Philip Nitschke of Exit International told the website SwissInfo.ch that his “death pod” offers a different approach. “We want to remove any kind of psychiatric review from the process and allow the individual to control the method themselves,” he said. “Our aim is to develop an artificial-intelligence screening system to establish the person’s mental capacity. Naturally there is a lot of skepticism, especially on the part of psychiatrists.”

To qualify to use the pod, the person who wants to die must answer an online survey that is meant to prove whether they are making the decision of their own accord. If they pass, they will be told the location of the pod and given an access code.

Once inside, the person intending to end their life will have to answer pre-recorded questions and press a button that will start the process of flooding the interior with nitrogen, which will quickly reduce the oxygen level inside from 21 percent to 1 percent. “The person will get into the capsule and lie down,” he said, adding, “It’s very comfortable.”

The Sarco Suicide Pod is expected to be operational in 2022.

https://news.yahoo.com/switzerland-approves-assisted-suicide-capsule-140255771.html

[lame54]

1. "Swiss chocolate is people!"

[roamer65]

14. ..

Ugh, no monkey meat in my chocolate, please.

Lol

[FSogol]

2. The suicide parlors were busy places, because so many people felt silly and pointless, and because

it was supposed to be an unselfish, patriotic thing to do, to die. The suicides also got free last meals next door. - Kurt Vonnegut jr

"Trout's favorite formula was to describe a perfectly hideous society, not unlike his own, and then, toward the end, to suggest ways in which it could be improved. In 2BRO2B he hypothetical an America in which almost all of the work was done by machines, and the only people who could get work had three or more Ph.D's. There was a serious overpopulation problem, too. All serious diseases had been conquered. So death was voluntary, and the government, to encourage volunteers for death, set up a purple-roofed Ethical Suicide Parlor at every major intersection, right next door to an orange-roofed Howard Johnson's. There were pretty hostesses in the parlor, and Barca-loungers, and Muzak, and a choice of fourteen painless ways to die. The suicide parlors were busy places, because so many people felt silly and pointless, and because it was supposed to be an unselfish, patriotic thing to do, to die. The suicides also got free last meals next door. And so on. Trout had a wonderful imagination. One of the characters asked a death stewardess if he would go to Heaven, and she told him that of course he would. He asked if he would see God, and she said, "Certainly, honey." And he said, "I sure hope so. I want to ask Him something I never was able to find out down here." "What's that?" she said, strapping him in. "What in hell are people for?”

― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

[RFCalifornia]

9. God I love Vonnegut nt

[RFCalifornia]

3. Awesome!

Basically you inhale laughing gas until you pass

It's the way I want to go

[jimfields33]

6. They need a hell of a lot more then some form

and a few questions. They need to have terminal cancer perhaps?

[RFCalifornia]

7. I say give it to whomever needs it

For example, if I get dementia like my parents, and face life in a care home for the next seven years dealing with bedsores, and being a shell of the person I was...I want the death chamber

[jimfields33]

8. Again that's major medical issue. I can see that

But the article was pretty flimsy on details and requirements.

[GregariousGroundhog]

10. Nope, nitrogen gas, not nitrous oxide

N₂ and not NO₂.

A person in complete vacuum will pass out in 15-20 seconds and die within about two minutes. I imagine this would be similar, assuming they can quickly replace the oxygen with nitrogen. High levels of carbon dioxide are uncomfortable, but a lack of oxygen is not.

[Salviati]

11. Not nitrous oxide, just nitrogen.

Essentially you suffocate, but without the discomfort and panic response that is actually brought on by an excess of CO2, not a lack of oxygen.

[left-of-center2012]

12. It's not 'laughing gas'

As stated in the OP, it's nitrogen.
Laughing gas is nitrous oxide.

[Taylor Picker]

4. Futurama...

[Tree Lady]

5. Read article said it works in 30 seconds

No choking, pain. I don't believe in death punishment but why can't they choose something more humane like this?

[berniesandersmittens]

13. Great point!

Im against the death penalty, but at least there are ways to make it so people don't suffer.