Britt Jones
Assisted dying is a process that occurs when a person enters a clinic and chooses to end their life, but what it does to your body is something many don’t know about.
A lot of people have been curious about the ins and outs of what it actually means to die by assisted dying.
With some countries around the world offering the service to terminally ill or people who suffer through unbearable symptoms due to deteriorating conditions, the act has gotten a lot of traction in the media.
It's illegal in the UK, and can send a person to prison for 14 years if they help someone die, but some have chosen to fly to other nations to carry it out, like Switzerland.
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But what happens when a person enters a Swiss clinic?
Well, there are four main clinics that provide assisted dying in Switzerland, known as Pegasos, Dignitas, Athanasios and Lifecircle, and they all have their own criteria for death and methods, but they do use the same medication, even if it is administered in different ways.
According to The Switzerland Alternative, a website dedicated to giving all the information available to people who want to know about assisted death, ‘Pegasos, Dignitas*, Athanasios and Lifecircle all ask their members choosing assisted suicide to take a drug called Pentobarbital of Sodium’.
Pentobarbital is mostly known by the brand name, Nembutal, which is a barbiturate that used to be used as a topical sleeping medication for children in the 50s.
However, if you overdose on the solution, it can quickly kill you.
While Lifecircle, Athanasios and Pegasos ask you to apply it intravenously, Dignitas asks the patient to drink it, but it can be given via a cannula if needed.
At Dignitas, you will be given a 50ml glass containing Paspertin (Metoclopramide) to drink so that it soothes your stomach so that you don’t throw up when drinking the Pentobarbital later.
Just half an hour after drinking the Metoclopramide, you will then drink the Pentobarbital, which will put you into a deep sleep within five minutes.
From there, you will fall into a coma before your heart stops beating at around 20 to 30 minutes later.
Sometimes, you’ll also be given a bite of Swiss chocolate to chase down the Pentobarbital drink, as previous patients have mentioned the foul taste of the solution.
If you take it via a cannula, you will have an IV set up and attached to you, but you will need to flip the switch to allow the medication to run into your IV line and into your vein, so that you are administering the drug yourself.
Regardless of the method, the companies all maintain that they provide dignified deaths to their patients who choose to take their lives and deaths into their own hands.
As of right now, the assisted dying bill has largely been agreed upon in the UK, and it is now under the committee stage at the House of Lords.
But until then, people are choosing to travel.
For advice, support, and more information, you can contact the nurse-led specialist team at Compassion in Dying via their helpline 0800 999 2434. You can also email them at [email protected].
Additionally, If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.