āAbsurdā: Aussie doctor behind āsuicide capsuleā speaks out
An Australian right-to-die activist behind a new so-called āsuicide capsuleā has spoken out for the first time after the podās first-ever user was instead allegedly strangled.
Philip Nitschke said he was not present for what was reportedly the first ever use of the āSarcoā capsule by a chronically ill US woman in a Swiss forest on September 23.
Despite Dr Nitschke claiming the pod worked as planned, people were arrested following the 64-year-oldās death amid reports she may have been strangled.
Those claims were rejected by the South Australian-born humanist and founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International in an interview with the Associated Press.
āIt is absurd because weāve got film that the capsule wasnāt opened. She got in herself, pressed the button herself,ā Dr Nitschke told the US wire service this week.
Camera IconThe so-called āsuicide capsuleā cost $1.5m to develop and build. Credit: NewsWire
Dr Nitschke said the head of Exit Internationalās Swiss affiliate, Florian Willet, was present for the death and called police who later took him into custody.
The activist said he was compelled to speak out because he was ādesperateā about the plight of Mr Willet, who could remain bars on remand for weeks.
Other people were also arrested after the womanās death, including a journalist with a Dutch newspaper, but were later released.
The āSarcoā cost $1.5m to develop according to Dr Nitschke and allows a person sitting reclined in a seat to push a button that floods the chamber with nitrogen gas.
Within minutes, the user is supposed to slip into unconsciousness before they die of suffocation.
Camera IconExit International founder and director Philip Nitschke said the womanās death was ādignifiedā. Credit: Supplied
Dr Nitschke said the podās first user was a woman from the US Midwest who had ācompromised immune functionā that made her āsubject to chronic infectionā.
In a separate interview, Dr Nitschke said Mr Willet, who was the only person present for the death, had told him it had been āpeaceful, fast, and dignifiedā.
But, on October 26, Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported the Swiss prosecutor had indicated in court that the woman might have actually been strangled.
Dr Nitschke said he had been told the podās use would be legal in Switzerland, one of the few countries foreigners can come to legally end their life.
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