A scientist who is campaigning for the use of 3D printed 'do-it-yourself death pods' wants Scotland to take the hi-tech approach to assisted suicide.
Users would be locked in an airtight chamber if they used the capsules created by 'Dr Death' Philip Nitschke. After the chamber locks, it would be filled with nitrogen gas - knocking people unconscious within one minute and killing them within ten minutes.
Nitschke has now urged a Scots MSP to back the pods, writing to Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur who is behind an assisted suicide Bill at Holyrood. He said: "They lead to a peaceful, even euphoric death."
But campaigners who are opposed to the proposed legislation have been left outraged by his proposal which was revealed in the Mail on Sunday. Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing said: "Ordinary people will be shocked and appalled at Philip Nitschke’s attempt to lobby for the use of his personal gas chamber should Scotland legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia."
The Scottish Daily Express reports the 'Sarco' pods can only be operated from the inside. Nitrogen gas that induces a state of hypoxia and eventually, death, can be released into the pod by users pressing a button, blinking or making a gesture. An escape hatch and emergency stop button is accessible from the pod.
Nitschke, who is the founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International, is a former Australian doctor who burned his medical registration certificate in 2015. In 2021, he launched the 3D printed Sarco pods in Switzerland and the technology can now be used in the country's legal assisted suicide clinics.
In the future he hopes than anyone will be allowed to print out on of the pods themselves by downloading the design. He said: "It really is about democratising the dying process. We consider it a right for all rational adults to be able to divest themselves of their life, it is not just some privilege decided by others that can be granted to the very sick."
But there is scepticism over Nitschke's 'do-it-yourself' approach and the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas said it did not believe it would take off. The clinic told Euronews website : "In the light of this established, safe and professionally supported practice, we would not imagine that a technologized capsule for a self-determined end of life will meet much acceptance and/or interest in Switzerland".
'Holyrood should focus on palliative care'
Meanwhile, Dr Macdonald said the "shocking" suggestion was "not the most worrying part of the debate" and warned that evidence showed that assisted suicide "quickly can spin out of control" when introduced in other countries such as Canada.
He said: "You can now have your life ended if you are suffering from mental health conditions such as treatable clinical depression, PTSD, disability, diabetes and a combination of other ailments.
"Indeed, last year 1700, mainly elderly people, cited loneliness as a reason for their euthanasia, while we have seen applications from disabled people who are struggling to pay for the cost of their care, even a homeless man who no longer wants to live on the streets."
Dr Macdonald concluded: "At a time when we have seen how fragile our healthcare system is, how underfunding puts pressure on services and when up to one in four Scots who would benefit from palliative care, don’t receive it, I would suggest this should be the focus of Parliamentary attention, rather than discussing again this dangerous and ideological policy that threatens the lives of thousands of vulnerable people."
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