Doctor who invented suicide pod reveals two conditions you must meet if you want to use device to die
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: ARND WIEGMANN/AFP via Getty Images
The mastermind behind the headline-hitting Sarco 'suicide pod' has lifted the lid on the two conditions that someone must meet if they are hoping to end their own life.
The controversial 3D-printed device has been the subject of global debate ever since it was introduced to the public earlier this year.
Named for their resemblance on 'sarcophagus', the pods allow the person inside to push a button which triggers the release of nitrogen gas, starving the participant of oxygen.
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After just a few minutes, the person inside will gently pass away.
Only a handful of people have signed up for using the pod - which was developed by the Swiss euthanasia-focussed firm The Last Resort - including British couple Peter and Christine Scott, the former of whom is battling physical ailments, while Christine has been diagnosed with early-stage vascular dementia.
The first individual also died in the device last month - an American woman, who voluntarily passed away aged 64 - sparking the arrest of several individuals working at the company.
And as the debate over the ethics of the pods continues, their creator has lifted the lid on the criteria that must be met by an individual hoping to use it.
Dr Philip Nitschke - also known as 'Dr Death' and founder of the 'painless' means of dying - told Wired that two conditions are used to determine whether a participant is truly aware of the gravity of their decision.
Believing that the pods give users freedom to decide how they end their lives without having to rely on medics he branded 'prejudiced', he firstly said that an individual has to be of 'sound mind'.
"We really want to develop that part of the process so that a person can have their mental capacity assessed by the software," he said.
"Rather than... spending half an hour with a psychiatrist."
The second criteria, he continues, is that the individual hoping to use the pod must 'be an adult'.
News of Dr Nitschke's criteria comes after a handful of individuals were arrested amid an ongoing criminal case following the death of the US woman.
An investigation was opened by prosecutors and remains ongoing, looking into those involved in both incitement and accessory to suicide.
Applications to use the Sarco suicide pod has been suspended while the investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the president of The Last Resort, Florian Willet, is being held in pretrial detention.