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Swiss police arrested four individuals after they were involved in the first case of Sarco pods being used to commit suicide. As we reported last July, this pod allows an individual to commit suicide using nitrogen gas for a fee of only around RM94.
The first user of the Sarco pod was a 64-year-old American with an autoimmune disease. Among those arrested was Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort which offers pod services to those who want to end their own lives. The other three individuals detained are a journalist and two other Swiss nationals whose identities have not been disclosed.
Although Switzerland allows euthanasia for serious health reasons, these four individuals were detained because the Sacro pod did not pass the national safety law and suicide using nitrogen was not yet allowed. All the euthanasia cases that were done before were using the sedative pentobarbital and also helium gas.
Sarco pumps nitrogen gas into an airtight chamber. Within 30 seconds, the oxygen content in the air will drop from 21% to 0.05% causing the individual in the pod to experience hypoxia causing death within 5 minutes. According to The Last Resort, individuals inside the Sacro will not be tortured and will die peacefully.
Sacro was first shown in 2019 after being developed for six years. To begin the euthanasia process, individuals need to undergo a psychiatric screening to ensure they are not being coerced and are aware of what they want to do. The nitrogen gas release button inside the Sacro will be pressed by the individual.