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The numbers of ‘suicide tourists’ going to Switzerland to take their own lives have doubled within four years with citizens from Germany and UK contributing to the largest per cent.
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LONDON: The first recorded case of an Indian travelling to Switzerland for "suicide tourism" has now been confirmed.
In a first of its kind study, researchers in UK have confirmed tremendous spike in a worrying trend of suicide tourism.
The numbers of 'suicide tourists' going to Switzerland to take their own lives have doubled within four years with citizens from Germany and UK contributing to the largest per cent.
Those with neurological conditions, such as paralysis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, account for almost half of the cases.
While 123 people undertook suicide tourism in 2008, the number rose to 172 in 2012.
The data shows that nationals from 31 different countries were helped to die in Switzerland between 2008 and 2012, with German (268) and UK (126) nationals making up almost two thirds of the total.
Other countries in the top 10 include France (66), Italy (44), USA (21), Austria (14), Canada (12), Spain and Israel (each with 8).
The data base made public on Thursday morning shows one case from India as well in 2012.
The study by Oxford University looked at whether the availability of suicide tourism in Switzerland had prompted changes in the law on assisted suicide elsewhere.
While assisted suicide (AS) is strictly restricted in many countries including India, it is not clearly regulated by law in Switzerland. This imbalance leads to an influx of people — suicide tourists — coming to the Canton of Zurich with the sole purpose of committing suicide. Political debate regarding 'suicide tourism' is taking place in many countries. Swiss medico legal experts are confronted with these cases almost daily, which prompted our scientific investigation of the phenomenon, said the researchers.
Researchers therefore searched the databases of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Zurich for information on investigations and post mortem examinations among non-Swiss nationals who had been helped to take their own lives between 2008 and 2012.
There are six right to die organizations in Switzerland, of which four permit nationals from other countries to use their services.
The search revealed that 611 people who were not resident in Switzerland had been helped to die between 2008 and 2012, all but four of whom had gone to Dignitas.
Their ages ranged from 23 to 97, with the average being 69; over half (58.5%) of the 'tourists' were women, who were 40% more likely to choose assisted suicide in Switzerland than men.
The rises were particularly steep in certain countries, especially Italy — up from 4 in 2009 to 22 in 2012, and France, up from 7 in 2009 to 19 in 2012.
Overall, the numbers of people being helped to die in Switzerland doubled between 2009 and 2012.
Virtually all the deaths were caused by taking sodium pentobarbital. Four people inhaled helium — deaths which were widely publicised and described as "excruciating", and possibly responsible for the dip in numbers of suicide tourists to Switzerland between 2008 and 2009, say the researchers.
Around one in three people had more than one condition, but neurological conditions accounted for almost half of the total cases, followed by cancer and rheumatic diseases.
The study published on Thursday in the Journal of Medical Ethics suggest that the phenomenon of suicide tourism, which is unique to Switzerland, has prompted legislative changes and/or serious debate in Germany, the UK, and France—the principal sources of this type of tourism.
But Dr Charles Foster of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford is not convinced that this is the case in the UK. He argues that there are two possible connections between suicide tourism and policies surrounding assisted suicide in the UK.
"The first is the liberalisation of public opinion that comes naturally, if irrationally with familiarity," he writes. "And the second is the slowly growing public acknowledgement that there is something intellectually, if not morally, uncomfortable, about getting another country to do your dirty work."
In Switzerland, assisting suicide is not clearly regulated by law and unlike in other countries such as the Netherlands or certain states of the USA, for example, Oregon, no rules exist that regulate under which conditions someone might receive assisted suicide (AS).
Six official voluntary right-to-die organisations are active in Switzerland and offer AS to their members, providing that they fulfil various conditions. Four of the six organisations also offer suicide assistance to people who are neither Swiss citizens nor resident in Switzerland, but who come from other European countries, for example, the UK, France and Italy, where AS is restricted by law and anyone contravening this law may be liable to several years' imprisonment.
In the UK, at least, 'going to Switzerland' has become a euphemism for AS. According to their own websites, the six right-to-die organisations assist in approximately 600 cases of suicide per year; some 150-200 of which are suicide tourists, mostly with Dignitas.
The paper says "our results show that AS is chosen 1.4 times more often by women. The median age of the suicide tourists in our study was 69 years, an age at high risk of malignancy or chronic disease. After a decrease between 2008 and 2009, the number of suicide tourists doubled between 2009 and 2012. The initial fall could be explained by negative media reporting on the four cases of AS with helium inhalation in spring 2008. The deaths were described as excruciating. A detailed scientific description of video sequences of the events reported one case in which death occurred after more than 40 minutes' inhalation of helium by mask, during which time the unconscious person moaned and had episodes of eyeball movement."
"With respect to the underlying diseases, our results showed that neurological diseases were the reason for AS in nearly half of the study group. Neurological diseases and rheumatic diseases increased between 1990 and 2012, while cancer became less common. These results imply that non-fatal diseases or diseases that are not yet end stage are more often becoming the reason for seeking AS."
The authors said, "The phenomenon of suicide tourism has been growing over the years and is still increasing unabated. Our results showed an increasing proportion of neurological and rheumatic diseases diagnosed among the suicide tourists. This implies that non-fatal diseases are increasing among suicide tourists and probably also among Swiss residents, although potential suicide tourists with a terminal illness might not be able to travel to a foreign country."
"The phenomenon of suicide tourism unique to Switzerland can indeed result in amendment or supplementary guidelines to existing regulations in foreign countries, as shown by our examples of the top three countries from which suicide tourists travelled. Political debate in Switzerland and other countries is continuing, with the possibility of further amendments in the near future, in both Switzerland and elsewhere, unless Switzerland issues clear and structured regulations on suicide tourism."
Total assisted suicides in 2008 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 123
Top 5 countries
Germany 59 UK 23 France 19 Canada 5 Austria 4
Total assisted suicides in 2011 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 140
Top 5 countries
Germany 67 UK 23 France 13 Italy 12 USA 9
India 1
Total assisted suicides in 2012 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 172
Top 5 countries
Germany 77 UK 29 Italy 22 France 19 US 7
Total between 2008-2012 - 611
Top 5 countries
Germany 268 UK 126 France 66 Italy 44 US 21
UK researchers confirm worrying increase in 'suicide tourism' - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
@Aeronaut @Oscar @Fulcrum15 @nair @Multani @RazPaK @AUz @Chak Bamu
Text resize:AAA
LONDON: The first recorded case of an Indian travelling to Switzerland for "suicide tourism" has now been confirmed.
In a first of its kind study, researchers in UK have confirmed tremendous spike in a worrying trend of suicide tourism.
The numbers of 'suicide tourists' going to Switzerland to take their own lives have doubled within four years with citizens from Germany and UK contributing to the largest per cent.
Those with neurological conditions, such as paralysis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, account for almost half of the cases.
While 123 people undertook suicide tourism in 2008, the number rose to 172 in 2012.
The data shows that nationals from 31 different countries were helped to die in Switzerland between 2008 and 2012, with German (268) and UK (126) nationals making up almost two thirds of the total.
Other countries in the top 10 include France (66), Italy (44), USA (21), Austria (14), Canada (12), Spain and Israel (each with 8).
The data base made public on Thursday morning shows one case from India as well in 2012.
The study by Oxford University looked at whether the availability of suicide tourism in Switzerland had prompted changes in the law on assisted suicide elsewhere.
While assisted suicide (AS) is strictly restricted in many countries including India, it is not clearly regulated by law in Switzerland. This imbalance leads to an influx of people — suicide tourists — coming to the Canton of Zurich with the sole purpose of committing suicide. Political debate regarding 'suicide tourism' is taking place in many countries. Swiss medico legal experts are confronted with these cases almost daily, which prompted our scientific investigation of the phenomenon, said the researchers.
Researchers therefore searched the databases of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Zurich for information on investigations and post mortem examinations among non-Swiss nationals who had been helped to take their own lives between 2008 and 2012.
There are six right to die organizations in Switzerland, of which four permit nationals from other countries to use their services.
The search revealed that 611 people who were not resident in Switzerland had been helped to die between 2008 and 2012, all but four of whom had gone to Dignitas.
Their ages ranged from 23 to 97, with the average being 69; over half (58.5%) of the 'tourists' were women, who were 40% more likely to choose assisted suicide in Switzerland than men.
The rises were particularly steep in certain countries, especially Italy — up from 4 in 2009 to 22 in 2012, and France, up from 7 in 2009 to 19 in 2012.
Overall, the numbers of people being helped to die in Switzerland doubled between 2009 and 2012.
Virtually all the deaths were caused by taking sodium pentobarbital. Four people inhaled helium — deaths which were widely publicised and described as "excruciating", and possibly responsible for the dip in numbers of suicide tourists to Switzerland between 2008 and 2009, say the researchers.
Around one in three people had more than one condition, but neurological conditions accounted for almost half of the total cases, followed by cancer and rheumatic diseases.
The study published on Thursday in the Journal of Medical Ethics suggest that the phenomenon of suicide tourism, which is unique to Switzerland, has prompted legislative changes and/or serious debate in Germany, the UK, and France—the principal sources of this type of tourism.
But Dr Charles Foster of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford is not convinced that this is the case in the UK. He argues that there are two possible connections between suicide tourism and policies surrounding assisted suicide in the UK.
"The first is the liberalisation of public opinion that comes naturally, if irrationally with familiarity," he writes. "And the second is the slowly growing public acknowledgement that there is something intellectually, if not morally, uncomfortable, about getting another country to do your dirty work."
In Switzerland, assisting suicide is not clearly regulated by law and unlike in other countries such as the Netherlands or certain states of the USA, for example, Oregon, no rules exist that regulate under which conditions someone might receive assisted suicide (AS).
Six official voluntary right-to-die organisations are active in Switzerland and offer AS to their members, providing that they fulfil various conditions. Four of the six organisations also offer suicide assistance to people who are neither Swiss citizens nor resident in Switzerland, but who come from other European countries, for example, the UK, France and Italy, where AS is restricted by law and anyone contravening this law may be liable to several years' imprisonment.
In the UK, at least, 'going to Switzerland' has become a euphemism for AS. According to their own websites, the six right-to-die organisations assist in approximately 600 cases of suicide per year; some 150-200 of which are suicide tourists, mostly with Dignitas.
The paper says "our results show that AS is chosen 1.4 times more often by women. The median age of the suicide tourists in our study was 69 years, an age at high risk of malignancy or chronic disease. After a decrease between 2008 and 2009, the number of suicide tourists doubled between 2009 and 2012. The initial fall could be explained by negative media reporting on the four cases of AS with helium inhalation in spring 2008. The deaths were described as excruciating. A detailed scientific description of video sequences of the events reported one case in which death occurred after more than 40 minutes' inhalation of helium by mask, during which time the unconscious person moaned and had episodes of eyeball movement."
"With respect to the underlying diseases, our results showed that neurological diseases were the reason for AS in nearly half of the study group. Neurological diseases and rheumatic diseases increased between 1990 and 2012, while cancer became less common. These results imply that non-fatal diseases or diseases that are not yet end stage are more often becoming the reason for seeking AS."
The authors said, "The phenomenon of suicide tourism has been growing over the years and is still increasing unabated. Our results showed an increasing proportion of neurological and rheumatic diseases diagnosed among the suicide tourists. This implies that non-fatal diseases are increasing among suicide tourists and probably also among Swiss residents, although potential suicide tourists with a terminal illness might not be able to travel to a foreign country."
"The phenomenon of suicide tourism unique to Switzerland can indeed result in amendment or supplementary guidelines to existing regulations in foreign countries, as shown by our examples of the top three countries from which suicide tourists travelled. Political debate in Switzerland and other countries is continuing, with the possibility of further amendments in the near future, in both Switzerland and elsewhere, unless Switzerland issues clear and structured regulations on suicide tourism."
Total assisted suicides in 2008 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 123
Top 5 countries
Germany 59 UK 23 France 19 Canada 5 Austria 4
Total assisted suicides in 2011 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 140
Top 5 countries
Germany 67 UK 23 France 13 Italy 12 USA 9
India 1
Total assisted suicides in 2012 of nationals outside Switzerland travelling to Zurich for suicide tourism - 172
Top 5 countries
Germany 77 UK 29 Italy 22 France 19 US 7
Total between 2008-2012 - 611
Top 5 countries
Germany 268 UK 126 France 66 Italy 44 US 21
UK researchers confirm worrying increase in 'suicide tourism' - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site
@Aeronaut @Oscar @Fulcrum15 @nair @Multani @RazPaK @AUz @Chak Bamu
