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Oregon Death with Dignity Act Washington Death with Dignity Act |
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| Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) Gonzales v. Oregon (2006) Baxter v. Montana (2009) |
| Alternatives |
| Assisted suicide Palliative care Principle of double effect Terminal sedation |
| Other issues |
| Suicide tourism Groningen Protocol Euthanasia device Euthanasia and the slippery slope |
Dignitas is a Swiss assisted dying group that helps those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses to die assisted by qualified doctors and nurses. Additionally, they provide assisted suicide for people provided that they are of sound judgement and submit to an in-depth medical report prepared by a psychiatrist that establishes the patient's condition, as required by Swiss courts.[1]
Contents |
Dignitas was founded in 1998 by Ludwig A. Minelli, a Swiss lawyer. Swiss laws provide that assistance to suicide is only illegal if it is motivated by self-interest. As a result, Dignitas seeks to ensure that it acts as a neutral party by proving that aside from non-recurring fees, they have nothing to gain from the deaths of its members.
The person who wishes to die meets several Dignitas personnel, in addition to an independent doctor, for a private consultation. The independent doctor assesses the evidence provided by the patient and is met on two separate occasions, with a time gap between each of the consultations.[2] Legally admissible proof that the person wishes to die is also created, i.e. a signed affidavit, countersigned by independent witnesses. In cases where a person is physically unable to sign a document, a short video film of the person is made in which they are asked to confirm their identity, that they wish to die, and that their decision is made of their own free will, without any form of coercion. This evidence of informed consent remains private and is preserved only for use in any possible legal dispute.
Finally, a few minutes before the lethal overdose is provided, the person is once again reminded that taking the overdose will surely kill them. Additionally, they are asked several times whether they want to proceed, or take some time to consider the matter further. This gives the person the opportunity to stop the process. However, if at this point the person states that they are determined to proceed, a lethal overdose is provided and ingested.[3]
In general, Dignitas uses the following protocol to assist suicides: an oral dose of an antiemetic drug, followed approximately 30 minutes later by a lethal overdose of powdered pentobarbital dissolved in a glass of water or fruit juice. If necessary, the drugs can be ingested via a drinking straw. The pentobarbital overdose depresses the central nervous system, causing the person to become drowsy and fall asleep within 10 minutes of drinking it. Anaesthesia progresses to coma as the person's breathing becomes more shallow. Death is caused by respiratory arrest, which occurs within 30 minutes of ingesting the pentobarbital.
In a few cases in 2008, Dignitas used breathing helium gas[4] as a suicide method instead of a pentobarbital overdose. Some people believe that hypoxic death caused by helium is less peaceful than pentobarbital ingestion and causes shaking and twitching.[5]
Ludwig Minelli said in an interview in March 2008 that Dignitas had assisted 840 people to die, 60% of them Germans.[4]
Most people coming to Dignitas do not plan to die but need insurance in case their illness becomes intolerable. Of those who receive the green light, 70% never return to Dignitas.[4]
21% of people receiving assisted dying in Dignitas do not have a terminal or progressive illness, but rather "weariness of life".[6]
According to Ludwig Minelli,[4] Dignitas charges its patients €4,000 (£3,182/$5,263.16) for preparation and suicide assistance, or €7,000 (£5,568/$9,210.53) in case of taking over family duties, including funerals, medical costs and official fees.
Despite being a non-profit organization, Dignitas has repeatedly refused to open its finances to the public.[7]
Although the assisted suicide market is largely German, as of October 2008, approximately 100 British citizens had travelled to Switzerland from the UK to die at one of Dignitas' rented apartments in Zurich.
In July 2009, British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic outside Zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing." Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer.[8]
In March 2010, British comics artist John Hicklenton ended his life at the Dignitas clinic following a 10-year battle with multiple sclerosis.[9]
Soraya Wernli (a nurse employed by Dignitas for two-and-a-half years, until March 2005), accused the organization of being a 'production line of death concerned only with profits'. Amongst other allegations of irregularities, Wernli has pressed for an official examination of Dignitas' financial records. Although approximately £7,000 is charged for an assisted suicide and funeral, Wernli claims many wealthy and vulnerable people (e.g. Martha Hauschildt) have bequeathed vast sums to Minelli. Following the suicide of Peter Auhagen in August 2004 (this allegedly took 70 hours and he allegedly was in agony),
...the machine had a fault which meant it couldn’t pump all the poison into his system. The man was partially poisoned, in agony and thrashing around in a coma, frothing at the mouth and sweating. ... It was a terrible thing to witness, and I knew it could not go on.[10]
Wernli resigned from her job at Dignitas and contacted the Swiss police. Dignitas denied all the allegations and pointed out that Wernli left Dignitas several years ago and cannot know how Dignitas works now.[11] Minelli said that "If the state prosecutors feel I’m making myself rich they should start legal proceedings."[12] Establishing what happens now at Dignitas is very difficult as employees are required to maintain secrecy.[13]
Its director, Ludwig Minelli describes the difficulties that Dignitas has faced over the years.[14] In Sept 2007, it was evicted, blocked or locked out of three flats, and so Mr Minelli offered assisted dying to two German men in a car. In Oct 2007 Dignitas was prevented from working in a private house by the local council and refused rooms on an industrial site. In Dec 2007 an interim judgement prevented Dignitas from working in a building next to a busy brothel.
Although Dignitas and Exit provide little or no data into its activities, it is known that 21% of people receiving assistance by Dignitas and 65% of women attending Exit do not have a terminal or progressive illness.[15]
In April 2010, police divers found a group of over 60 cremation urns in Lake Zurich. Each of the urns bore the logo of the Nordheim crematorium used by Dignitas. Soraya Wernli, a former employee, had told The Times newspaper 18 months previously that Dignitas had dumped at least 300 urns in the lake. She claimed that Minelli dumped them there himself, but later asked his daughter and another member of staff to do it. In 2008 two members of Dignitas were caught trying to pour the ashes of 20 dead people into the lake.[16][17]
EXIT is another Swiss organization providing assisted suicide. In 2008, it had 50,000 members. However, EXIT strictly denies suicide assistance for people from abroad.[18]
EXIT Switzerland is not affiliated with Exit International, the similarly named voluntary euthanasia organization founded by Philip Nitschke.
In 2008, a documentary film known as The Suicide Tourist (Selbstmord-Touristen in the German version) was filmed, directed by John Zaritsky.[19] The documentary depicts stories of several people who come to Switzerland to end their lives. The film was shown on the Swiss television network SF1 and is available as a web movie on the Dignitas website.[20]
Right to Die? is a controversial documentary aired on Sky Real Lives about the assisted suicide of Craig Ewert, a 59-year-old retired university professor who suffered from motor neurone disease. Ewert traveled to Switzerland where he was assisted by the Dignitas NGO. The documentary shows him passing away with Mary, his wife of 37 years, at his side. Oscar-winning Canadian John Zaritsky directed and produced the film.
The BBC produced a film titled A Short Stay in Switzerland[21] telling the story of Dr Anne Turner, who made the journey to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic, on January 24, 2006 she ended her life, the day before her 67th birthday. The film was shown on BBC1 on January 25, 2009.
British maestro Sir Edward Downes, who conducted the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera but struggled in recent years (but was not terminally ill) as his hearing and sight failed, died with his wife, who had terminal cancer, at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland in July 2009. He was 85 and she was 74.[8]
French lesbian theorist and translator, Michele Causse chose to die on her birthday, July 30, 2010, in association with Dignitas.[22][23]
In March 2010, the PBS FRONTLINE TV program in the United States showed a documentary called "The Suicide Tourist" which told the story of Professor Craig Ewert, his family, and Dignitas, and their decision to commit assisted suicide in Switzerland after he was diagnosed and suffering with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).[24]
On June 13, 2011, BBC 2 aired a documentary titled Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, featuring author and Alzheimer's disease sufferer Sir Terry Pratchett guiding viewers through an assisted suicide which took place at Dignitas facilities in Switzerland. Peter Smedley, a British hotelier and millionaire, and his wife Christine allowed for Pratchett to film Smedley's deliberate consumption of prepared barbiturate in a glass in order to kill himself as Christine comforted Smedley in his demise. The documentary received a highly-polarized reaction in the United Kingdom, with accusations of bias being leveled against BBC 2 by pro-life and anti-euthanasia pressure groups.[25][26]