{{Short description|Euthanasia device using inert gas}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} thumb|Sarco, a euthanasia device invented by Philip Nitschke {{Suicide sidebar}} {{Euthanasia}} The '''Sarco pod''' (sometimes referred to as a "'''suicide pod'''"<ref>{{cite news |last= Wakefield |first= Jane |date= 9 December 2021 |title= Maker of suicide pod plans to launch in Switzerland |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59577162 |work= BBC News |access-date= 23 June 2022}}</ref>) is a euthanasia device or machine consisting of a 3D-printed detachable capsule mounted on a stand that contains a canister of liquid nitrogen to die by suicide through inert gas asphyxiation. "Sarco" is short for "sarcophagus".<ref name="sarc3">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/15/nitschke-suicide-machine-amsterdam-euthanasia-funeral-fair |title=Nitschke's 'suicide machine' draws crowds at Amsterdam funeral fair |work=The Guardian |date=15 April 2018 |accessdate=15 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415045058/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/15/nitschke-suicide-machine-amsterdam-euthanasia-funeral-fair |archive-date=15 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="capsule">{{cite news |last=Overington |first=Caroline |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/philip-nitschke-invents-suicide-capsule-with-3d-printer/news-story/318561693f3a6eee1e10069df83a3839?nk=8a500b8067a5ef429d365255e635c3d2-1511568834 |title=Philip Nitschke invents suicide capsule with 3D printer |work=The Australian |publisher=News Corporation |date=25 November 2017 |accessdate=25 November 2017 }}</ref> It is used in conjunction with an inert gas (nitrogen) which decreases oxygen levels rapidly without triggering the sense of suffocation and struggling before unconsciousness, known as the hypercapnic alarm response,<ref name="PDH">{{cite book |last1=Nitschke |first1=Philip |authorlink=Philip Nitschke |last2=Stewart |first2=Fiona |authorlink2=Fiona Stewart (author) |title=The Peaceful Pill Handbook |chapter=Hypoxic Death and the Exit bag |publisher=Exit International US Limited |date=2016 |isbn=9780975833919 }}</ref>{{rp|45}} caused by the presence of high carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood.<ref name="PDH" /> The Sarco was invented by euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke in 2017. Nitschke said in 2021 that he sought and received legal advice about the device's legality in Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sarco suicide capsule hopes to enter Switzerland |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sarco-suicide-capsule--passes-legal-review--in-switzerland/46966510 |website=swissinfo.ch |date=December 6, 2021 |quote=Last year, we sought senior advice on the legality of using Sarco in Switzerland for assisted dying. This review has been completed and we’re very pleased with the result}}</ref>
==History== The Sarco is an expansion of the hypoxic death provided by a suicide bag. Many people will not consider euthanasia by suicide bag for aesthetic reasons, or may feel claustrophobic inside a bag. Nitschke calls this the "plastic bag factor".<ref name="musk">{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-assisted-suicide-machine-727874 |title=Meet The Elon Musk Of Assisted Suicide, Whose Machine Lets You Kill Yourself Anywhere |work=Newsweek |date=12 January 2017 |accessdate=8 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409043040/http://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-assisted-suicide-machine-727874 |archive-date=9 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Sarco was developed to address these objections.
==Mechanics== Access to the Sarco is controlled by an online test to gauge mental fitness. If applicants pass, they receive an access code to a Sarco device which is valid for 24 hours.<ref name="hp2018" />
Users of the Sarco can choose either a dark or transparent view from the capsule. The transparent view is chosen if they wish to transport the machine to a particular location to see a certain vista from the machine.<ref name="vice">{{cite web |last=De Jong |first=Marjolein |title=An Australian Doctor Built a Machine That Helps People Die |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-australian-doctor-built-a-machine-that-helps-people-die/ |website=Vice |date=6 December 2017 |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> The inventor feels that "where you die is certainly an important factor".<ref name="hp2018">{{cite news |last=Nitschke |first=Philip |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sarco-death-philip-nitschke_us_5abbb574e4b03e2a5c7853ca |title=Here's Why I Invented A 'Death Machine' That Lets People Take Their Own Lives |work=Huffington Post |date=5 April 2018 |accessdate=6 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405142833/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sarco-death-philip-nitschke_us_5abbb574e4b03e2a5c7853ca |archive-date=5 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The capsule provides for a rapid decrease in oxygen level while maintaining a low level of carbon dioxide. On activation, {{convert|4|litre|USgal}} of liquid nitrogen causes the oxygen level to drop silently to less than 5% in less than one minute. According to Nitschke: "The occupant presses the button and the capsule is filled with nitrogen. They will feel a bit dizzy but will then rapidly lose consciousness and die."<ref name="sarc3" />
==Design and manufacture== The design of the device was a collaboration between Nitschke and Dutch industrial designer Alexander Bannink.
Sarco is 3D-printed in sections measuring {{convert|1000|by|500|by|500|mm|in}}. The design software allows for devices of different sizes to be made according to the client's dimensions. Nitschke has said that the design is intended to resemble that of a spaceship, in order to give users the feel that they are traveling to the "great beyond".<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last1=Erickson |first1=Amanda |title=An euthanasia expert just unveiled his 'suicide machine' at an Amsterdam funeral fair |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/04/15/a-euthanasia-expert-just-unveiled-his-suicide-machine-at-an-amsterdam-funeral-fair/?noredirect=on |accessdate=21 April 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15 April 2018}}</ref>
==Reactions== Thaddeus Pope, a bioethicist at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, said the debate over Sarco may result in a new way of approaching end-of-life options by legislators, saying that "That might be bigger or more important than the actual Sarco itself," and that Nitschke was "illustrating the limitations of the medical model and forcing us to think."<ref name="The New York Times 2021">{{cite web | title=A 3-D Printed Pod Inflames the Assisted Suicide Debate | website=The New York Times | date=16 Dec 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/world/europe/suicide-pods-switzerland.html | access-date=22 Dec 2021}}</ref>
Critics have described the device as "just a glorified gas chamber", and others have raised concerns that it is glamorising suicide,<ref name="indy">{{cite news |last1=Cuthbertson |first1=Anthony |title=Suicide machine that could be controlled by the blink of an eye sparks euthanasia debate |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/suicide-machine-assisted-dying-euthanasia-debate-uk-clinic-sarco-nitschke-a8307741.html |accessdate=21 April 2019 |work=The Independent |date=17 April 2018}}</ref> and could lead to "suicide contagions" that inspire additional deaths.<ref name=WashPost_20211209>{{cite news |last1=Mark |first1=Julian |title=In the works for years, a suicide machine will soon be tested in Switzerland |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/09/switzerland-suicide-machine-pod/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209184451/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/09/switzerland-suicide-machine-pod/ |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Use== In 2024, right to die organisation "The Last Resort" announced the Sarco pod would be used in Switzerland for the first time. In response, the cantonal doctor of Valais issued a precautionary ban on its use.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 17, 2024 |title=Swiss Suicide Capsule to be used in Switzerland this year, says euthanasia organisation |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/suicide-capsule-to-be-used-in-switzerland-this-year/84079587 |access-date=20 July 2024 |work=Swissinfo}}</ref>
On 23 September 2024, police in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen arrested several people, including The Last Resort CEO Florian Willet, after a 64-year-old woman from the United States had used the machine. The public prosecutor's office for the canton announced the opening of criminal proceedings for the inducement, aiding and abetting of suicide.<ref>[https://nos.nl/artikel/2538347-zwitserse-politie-pakt-mensen-op-na-dood-van-vrouw-in-zelfdodingscapsule Zwitserse politie pakt mensen op na dood van vrouw in 'zelfdodingscapsule’]</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=24 September 2024 |title=Swiss police make arrests after 'suicide pod' used by American woman |url=https://www.thelocal.ch/20240924/breaking-swiss-police-make-arrests-after-use-of-controversial-suicide-pod |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=The Local}}</ref> On the same day, Swiss Federal Council member Elizabeth Baume-Schneider stated that use of the Sarco Pod was incompatible with Swiss law.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Assisted suicide: Sarco capsule deemed incompatible with Swiss law |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/assisted-suicide-sarco-capsule-deemed-incompatible-with-swiss-law/87604954 |access-date=6 February 2025 |work=Swiss Info}}</ref> On 2 December 2024, Willet was released from police custody.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 December 2024 |title=Swiss police release right-to-die activist in "suicide capsule" case |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/swiss-authorities-release-right-to-die-activist-in-suicide-capsule-case |access-date=6 February 2025 |work=National Post}}</ref> He died by suicide on 5 May 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 June 2025 |title=Directeur zelfdodingorganisatie Florian Willet (47) overleden door zelfdoding|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2569628-directeur-zelfdodingorganisatie-florian-willet-47-overleden-door-zelfdoding |access-date=2 June 2025 |work=NOS|language=nl}}</ref> Nitschke stated that Willet died as a direct result of his arrest.<ref name="x784">{{cite web | last=Kupemba | first=Danai Nesta | title=Euthanasia activist arrested over 'suicide pod' dies | website=BBC Home | date=2025-06-03 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4grlqv76pno | access-date=2026-01-08}}</ref>
==See also== * Assisted suicide * Bodily integrity * Coup de grâce * Dysthanasia * Right to die * Self-ownership * Suicide pill * Voluntary euthanasia
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official|https://www.exitinternational.net/sarco/}} * {{YouTube|cqaPZR4M22w|Pig Euthanasia with Inert Gas Helium in Germany}}
Category:3D printed objects Category:Asphyxia Category:Carbon dioxide Category:Euthanasia device Category:Nitrogen Category:Sarcophagi