A pro-assisted suicide campaigner who has been accused of publishing material online that has reportedly been linked to the deaths of over 90 people in the United Kingdom, including the suicides of several teenagers, has invented a suicide gas chamber for couples to end their lives simultaneously.
Dr Philip Nitschke, a former GP nicknamed ‘Dr Death’ who invented the Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pod, has now invented what has been called the “Double Dutch” gas chamber suicide pod for couples to end their lives by suicide at the same time.
Nitschke said that he received some feedback on the original gas chamber assisted suicide pod, stating, “One of the comments made was: ‘It’s so lonely, I want to be held by someone when I die… when you’re in a capsule, you’re isolated’”. This drove him to create a gas chamber pod for couples.
“If they both want to die, they have to die together, [and] they have to both press the buttons at the same time”, Nitschke said of the new pod.
As with the model intended for use by a single occupant, the device has been designed to be 3D printed. According to Nitschke, “We expect that in a couple of months [the double gas chamber suicide pod will] be ready”.
In 2024, two British pensioners who do not believe they would receive prompt NHS treatment said they were looking to become the first couple to make use of it.
The couple stated their intention to die together because of their infirmity and ‘physical decline’, as well as their lack of confidence in the NHS. One of the individuals, Peter Scott, said, “The chances of getting prompt NHS treatment for the ailments of old age seem pretty remote so you end up trapped by infirmity and pain”.
“Double Dutch” assisted suicide pod to use AI for mental capacity assessments
Nitschke has also said that the new “Double Dutch” gas chamber assisted suicide pod would use AI for its mental capacity assessments, rather than requiring individuals to undergo psychiatric assessments.
Regarding mental capacity assessments, Nitschke said, “Traditionally, that’s done by talking to a psychiatrist for five minutes, and we did that. [The first individual who ended her life in the suicide pod] had a rather traditional assessment of mental capacity through a Dutch psychiatrist”.
“But with the new Double Dutch, we’ll have the software incorporated, so you’ll have to do your little test online with an avatar, and if you pass that test, then the avatar tells you you’ve got mental capacity”, Nitschke added.
Suicide pod creator allegedly linked to over 90 deaths in the UK
Nitschke has been linked to over 90 deaths in the UK by publishing guides on how to end one’s life. He said he published details of a lethal poison, which he described as offering a “cheap” and “reliable” method of achieving a “peaceful death”, in an online suicide “handbook”.
Nitschke also said that he introduced the poison to Kenneth Law, a former chef who then began selling the poison and who has been linked to more than 90 deaths in the UK. Law is currently awaiting trial on 14 charges of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.
Law allegedly offered a lethal substance and other methods of committing suicide on now-defunct websites called “Imtime Cuisine” and “Escape Mode”. Over 1,200 packages are thought to have been ordered from these websites and delivered to people in 40 countries around the world.
Nitschke reportedly defended the actions of Law, claiming that he was only providing people with the choice of how to end their lives. “We published Ken Law’s contact details in the [online suicide handbook]”, Nitschke said, telling people that “Amazon don’t sell [the poison] anymore, go to Ken Law – and they did”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is incredibly worrying that Philip Nitschke is creating an assisted suicide pod capable of ending two lives at once”.
“This terrible development would leave the door wide open for coercion and pressure to end lives to occur. The proposal to use artificial intelligence to replace mental capacity assessments would be a laughable suggestion if it were not so dangerous”.
“If assisted suicide were to be legalised in England and Wales, legal academics have confirmed that the original assisted suicide pods invented by Nitschke will be legal under the assisted suicide Bill with the Health Secretary’s approval. We must never allow the actions of such men to be vindicated, and we must never allow this dangerous Bill to become law”.
