• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Criteria someone needs to meet in order to be allowed to die by euthanasia at Dignitas

Home> News> Health

Published 12:59 29 Apr 2024 GMT+1

Criteria someone needs to meet in order to be allowed to die by euthanasia at Dignitas

There are a lot of things that someone must have in place before going through an assisted suicide

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

Warning: This article contains discussions of suicide which some readers may find distressing

Swiss clinic Dignitas is one of the three main non-profit organisations that help to carry out assisted suicide in the country.

Assisted suicide is becoming an increasingly popular method for the terminally ill or unendurably disabled who choose to cut the years of pain and suffering short by ending their lives instead.

Advert

This is done by euthanasia through one of two methods.

Patients can choose between the cannula method or the drink method, though both use the drug Pentobarbital of Sodium.

The former involves a drip and turning a valve when ready to release the drug into their system, which will put them to sleep and kill them painlessly within five minutes.

Advert

The latter involves drinking a stomach soother, waiting 30 minutes, then consuming the Pentobarbital of Sodium in drink form with a chocolate bar, as the drink is reported to taste unpleasant - this whole process takes an hour.

Dignitas administer the drinking method at the organisation, and also detail what you must do to register for an assisted suicide at the organisation.

Obviously, if someone chooses to pass away by assisted suicide, they must provide ample information and evidence that proves they have the illness or disability that they claim to have to the independent Swiss doctors.

Swiss clinic Dignitas offers two methods of assisted suicide, one of which involves the insertion of a cannula. (Getty Stock Image)
Swiss clinic Dignitas offers two methods of assisted suicide, one of which involves the insertion of a cannula. (Getty Stock Image)

Only when they approve it, can the drug legally be procured and the process can go on.

Advert

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, there is a larger criteria for patients to meet before being approved to undergo the procedure in the European country.

For those who aren't from Switzerland, Dignitas will get in touch with a doctor to better assess the situation, which requires the person becoming a member of the organisation, giving a written request, providing medical information, two face-to-face meetings between the patient and doctors and if successful, the prescription being issued to Dignitas.

There needs to be two people present at the assisted suicide who can testify to the course of events, though the time this happens is up to the patient.

There is a long process for patients to go through before going through the assisted suicide. (Getty Stock Photo)
There is a long process for patients to go through before going through the assisted suicide. (Getty Stock Photo)

Dignitas also highlights the importance of involving family and loved ones in the process, to give an appropriate time to say goodbye, to carefully prepare and get things in order.

Advert

But in case that wasn't clear, this is what you need to carry the process out.

Requirements for an assisted/accompanied suicide

In order to access the service of an accompanied suicide, the patient has to:

  • Be a member of Dignitas
  • Be of sound judgement
  • Possess a minimum level of physical mobility (mobile enough to administer the drug yourself)

The cooperation of a Swiss physician is crucial in obtaining the drug, so the patient will further need to prove:

  • A disease which will lead to death and/or,
  • An unendurable incapacitating disability and/or,
  • Unbearable and uncontrollable pain.
A person must firstly be a member of Dignitas in order to be considered. (Fairfax Media via Getty Images/Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images)
A person must firstly be a member of Dignitas in order to be considered. (Fairfax Media via Getty Images/Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Other requirements

  • A personal letter to Dignitas, where the member asks for an accompanies suicide, including the reason for the request and the person's current physical condition.
  • A mini biography, describing the person's family situation, their next of kin, whether they support their desire for an assisted suicide, and if members of the family or loved ones will be there with them, in Switzerland.
  • Up to date medical records, which include the case history, diagnosis and suggested treatment for their condition.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123

Featured Image Credit: Fairfax Media via Getty Images/Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images / Getty Stock Image

Topics: Health, World News

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

X

@joshnair10

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
  • 11 hours ago

    Everything we know about Texas floods that have killed at least 121 as Trump arrives at disaster site

    The President and the First Lady have headed to the state one week after the horror floods wreaked havoc

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Scientists make surprising discovery at what lies under Antarctic ice sheet after its been covered in ice for 34 million years

    It could help scientists predict the future of the ice sheet

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Paedophile to be surgically castrated after raping girl, 6, in nation's shock new punishment tactic

    It comes a year after a law was passed in Madagascar permitting the controversial punishment

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Scientists think they've worked out what unknown interstellar object in our solar system is

    It came from outside our own solar system

    News
  • Woman explains why she's chosen to die by euthanasia in heartbreaking final message
  • Designer of euthanasia rollercoaster that 'kills anyone who uses it' reveals moment someone starts to die
  • Paedophile to be surgically castrated after raping girl, 6, in nation's shock new punishment tactic
  • Suicide pod death called off at last minute as first person was set to die in machine