X-Message-Number: 11738 Date: Wed May 12 19:34:15 1999 PST Subject: Swiss Assisted Suicide From: Edgar W Swank <> Recently posted here re Assisted Suicide in Switzerland by Thomas Nord ... There are no laws to allow assisted suicide in practice in Germany or Switzerland, contrary to frequent claims. To see how cases are handled, students may wish to refer to our quotations database. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not, and never have been, legal in the Netherlands." -- http://www.finalexit.org/index.shtml http://www.finalexit.org/swiss.html "The Practice of Assisted Suicide in Switzerland A Report by Professor Meinrad Schaer, MD, President of "EXIT', Society for Human Dying, Switzerland In my lecture given at the 11th World Conference of Right to Die Societies in Melbourne (l996), I reported on the legality and practice of assisted suicide in Switzerland. Today, I would like to present some practical case reports illustrating the procedure. While the USA struggles with controversy regarding the legality of assisted suicide, the Swiss legal system has condoned the practice for sixty years. In contrast to practices in Holland, Australia and the various US proposals where assisted suicide is limited to physician-assisted suicide, Swiss law permits and EXIT practices aid to the dying by lay persons. Although Swiss law permits physicians and non-medical persons to assist suicides, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, like many medical organisations, including the American Medical Association, opposes doctors helping patients to die. Swiss laws stipulate that persons who assist a suicide do so for humane reasons with no chance of personal gain. EXIT requires that the applicant be at least eighteen years old, a Swiss resident, mentally competent and suffering from intolerable health problems. He, or she, must personally apply for the service and convince EXIT that there is no coercion or third party influence involved in the decision. An EXIT physician considers the application and decides whether or not assistance can be offered. In doubtful cases, a team composed of a lawyer, psychiatrist and a physician will jointly make the decision. The procedure of assisted suicide is as follows: An EXIT team member provides an anti-emetic (two DramamineQ tablets) to the patient and half an hour later, 10 g.of sodium pentobarbitone is given. Within five minutes, the patient falls into a deep sleep and within two hours, with few exceptions, will die peacefully. The team member stays with the patient unfit death occurs and there is always a witness present, usually a close relative. Immediately after death has occurred, the police are informed and they notify the appropriate officials, prosecution attorney, coroner, criminologist et al. who visit the scene to establish whether or not laws have been violated. Since EXIT was founded in 1982, no collaborator has ever been prosecuted for his participation in assisted suicide." Prof. Schaer's report issued by EXIT, Switzerland, and distributed by ERGO! (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization) Junction City, OR Meinrad Schaer -- bio: A professor of social and preventive medicine at the University of Z rich for over 20 years, and former Vice-Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. One of the founders of EXIT - the Swiss Association for Human Dying - and its president for many years. Retired." But a friend living in Switzerland provided this later news ... That is what I was told: Till now there has not been a court decision about assisted suicide. The current practice is, that the organisation 'Exit' gets the necessary medicaments, but the person has to take them by himself. It is not allowed for other persons to give it to him. It has been tolerated this way till today. It seams as if there has been a case about half a year ago which will bring the whole story to the court. The Exit organisation has split itself into two parts which are fighting against each other. It is expected that assisted suicide will be forbidden if this case goes through the court. And it is highly expected to happen this way. Edgar W. Swank <> President - American Cryonics Society http://www.jps.net/cryonics/ ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=11738