A 55-year-old American woman, Jennifer McLaughlin, who intended to be the first person to die using a "suicide capsule" in Switzerland, was found dead by other means after going missing.
McLaughlin had traveled to Switzerland to use the "Sacro" pod, a device designed to allow individuals to commit suicide by pressing a button that activates assisted suicide. However, her scheduled death was "permanently postponed," according to the pod's inventor, Philip Nitschke. Following this, McLaughlin had emailed a lawyer and close friends to inform them she was undergoing a "procedure" that would end her life. After she disappeared, her friends contacted the police, who confirmed her death on Tuesday.
McLaughlin had been suffering from "major health issues" since 2017, from which her lawyersaid she "never really recovered." The US Embassy in Switzerland confirmed McLaughlin's death in a statement on Monday night, stating she had died on Friday after receiving services from a different Swiss assisted dying organization. The exact time of her death has not been confirmed.
The "Sacro" pod, named after the term sarcophagus, euthanizes a person within seconds after they press a button. The pod fills with nitrogen, causing the individual to go unconscious before ultimately dying.
These suicide pods have gained significant attention in recent days. In early July, reports indicated the first "patient" would use the device, but this was delayed.
Those wishing to use the machine must complete an online survey and are then given a location and access code for a pod, similar to using a delivery box, according to the Daily Mail. Once inside the capsule, they confirm their identity, consent to euthanasia, and press the button, with the process taking only 30 seconds.
Nitschke, the creator of the pod, described it as a "peaceful, reliable, drug-free" method of assisted dying.
“Death takes place through hypoxia and hypocapnia, oxygen and carbon dioxide deprivation, respectively. There is no panic, no choking,” he claimed, adding he may use the pod himself in his final days of life.
Swiss prosecutors have previously stated that anyone assisting a person in using the pod could face up to five years in prison. Schaffhausen Canton Public Prosecutor Peter Sticher indicated that Nitschke could face "serious consequences" for "inducement and aiding and abetting suicide for selfish reasons."
