‘Absurd’: Aussie doctor behind ‘suicide capsule’ speaks out

‘Absurd’: Aussie doctor behind ‘suicide capsule’ speaks out

An Australian right-to-die activist behind a new so-called “suicide capsule” has spoken out for the first time after the pod’s first-ever user was instead allegedly strangled.

Philip Nitschke said he was not present for what was reportedly the first ever use of the “Sarco” 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-old’s 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.

“It is absurd because we’ve got film that the capsule wasn’t opened. She got in herself, pressed the button herself,” Dr Nitschke told the US wire service this week.

Camera IconThe so-called ‘suicide capsule’ cost $1.5m to develop and build. Credit: NewsWire

Dr Nitschke said the head of Exit International’s 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 “desperate” about the plight of Mr Willet, who could remain bars on remand for weeks.

Other people were also arrested after the woman’s death, including a journalist with a Dutch newspaper, but were later released.

The “Sarco” 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 woman’s death was ‘dignified’. Credit: Supplied

Dr Nitschke said the pod’s first user was a woman from the US Midwest who had “compromised immune function” that made her “subject to chronic infection”.

In a separate interview, Dr Nitschke said Mr Willet, who was the only person present for the death, had told him it had been “peaceful, fast, and dignified”.

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 pod’s use would be legal in Switzerland, one of the few countries foreigners can come to legally end their life.

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