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'Suicide tourism' on the rise in Switzerland
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Results from a pilot study demonstrate a growing trend in “suicide tourism” in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is not regulated by law. According to researchers, the number of people traveling to Switzerland to undergo assisted suicide has been on the rise since 1990 and 2001. Data from their study, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, show rheumatic and neurological diseases are increasing as the cause among patients who seek assisted death.
The study aimed to understand assisted suicide in terms of demographics, organizations involved, reasons for assisted suicide and substances used to induce suicide. They also analyzed geographic locations suicide tourists traveled from, and compared their data with previous research to determine trends.
Between 2008 and 2012, 611 “suicide tourists” were identified as having undergone assisted death in Zurich, with 268 having come from Germany, 126 from the U.K., 66 from France, 44 from Italy and 21 from the US. In a prior study conducted between 2001 and 2004, only 255 foreign visitors underwent assisted death.
According to researchers, one-third of patients studied had more than one chronic or acute condition, but the number of patients with neurological and rheumatic conditions seeking assisted suicide appears to have risen. The present study shows that between 2008 and 2012, among those who sought assisted suicide, 290 reported neurological disorders, 150 reported rheumatic conditions and 227 reported cancer. In a previous study analyzing assisted suicide between 2001 and 2004, 103 of 255 suicide tourists reported neurological diseases and only 39 reported rheumatic illness, while 161 reported cancer.
According to researchers, there was no difference in age or gender among suicide tourists analyzed in the current study and the cases of assisted suicide detailed in previous reports.
According to Swiss law, a person assisting in a suicide who has “selfish motives” may be subject to sentencing for no more than 5 years, or a monetary penalty, according to researchers. Therefore, the number of “right to die” organizations in Switzerland has grown. Those seeking assisted suicide at Dignitas, one such organization that also provides assisted suicide to foreign patients, must first become a member of the organization. Additionally, the patient must either have a disease that will lead to death, have an “unendurable incapacitating disability” and/or unbearable, uncontrollable pain, and must be of sound judgment. The patient must also have enough mobility to self-administer the drug in one of a variety of ways. They must also submit a signed letter, biographical sketch and medical records to the company.
Dignitas’ literature says that a majority of its members, even those who pass an initial physician’s assessment, choose to move forward with the option. The brochure states that many die naturally, while “others live on for weeks, months, even years and cope well with their suffering through having gained a new attitude toward it: they know there is an ‘emergency exit door.’ This knowledge releases them from the pressure caused by their dilemma, whether to put up with their suffering until the very end or put an end to their suffering by attempting suicide themselves with possibly inadequate methods that entail great risks of failure and further suffering.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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