A euthanasia campaigner and former GP nicknamed ‘Dr Death’ has said he plans to open a “pop-up office” in London to advise people on travelling to Switzerland to end their lives by assisted suicide.
Philip Nitschke, the controversial founder of pro-euthanasia organisation Exit International and inventor of the Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pod, disclosed that he was considering setting up a “general Swiss referral service” in London to assist people in ending their lives.
“There is so much interest, it would be a pretty useful thing to have in London”, Nitschke said. “It will basically be a place where people can go and speak English to someone because, often, people have trouble trying to organise everything on the internet with the organisations in Switzerland”.
Reflecting on whether this service would even be legal in England, where it is a criminal offence to assist suicide, Nitschke said, “If you’ve got a lot of your population seeking information about assisted dying, then to try and use some form of censorship to try and stop people getting that information reflects pretty badly on any administration that would do that”.
Proposals follow assisted suicide workshop hosted by Nitschke in London
According to Nitschke, he was considering either setting up an office in London specifically representing Athanasios, a Swiss assisted suicide clinic established last year, or a more general Swiss referral service.
Earlier this month, the founder of Athanasios, Carlos Cabrera, delivered a presentation at a booked-out event hosted by Nitschke in London.
Ahead of the event, MPs and campaigners called on the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to prevent Nitschke from being allowed into the UK to host this event, in which he planned to demonstrate his Kairos ‘suicide collar’ device.
The collar, called “Kairos”, consists of two balloons that exert pressure on the carotid artery, leading first to unconsciousness and then to death.
Earlier this year, Nitschke said that he would conduct the first assisted suicide using the collar on a woman in Switzerland who would be his first “test subject”.
Ultimately, Nitschke hosted his workshop without the collar.
“I have left the device in the Netherlands. I feared it would be stopped at customs. We are under pressure from authorities about what they call ‘giving dangerous information to vulnerable people’”, he said.
“The device is not expensive to make but we are currently in the testing phase and it would be a real setback to lose it”, Nitschke added.
He has claimed that it is difficult for governments to stop because it can be built at home.
Nitschke proposed launching a suicide pod service if assisted suicide were legalised
Nitschke has previously said that he would look to launch a suicide pod service in the UK, had Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill become law.
Leading legal academics confirmed that the broad wording of Leadbeater’s Bill would make Nitschke’s machine legal in Britain with the Health Secretary’s approval. They predicted that should it not get approval from the Health Secretary, those with swallowing difficulties or needle phobias would likely bring a discrimination challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Leadbeater’s Bill was almost identical to the assisted suicide Bill brought forward earlier this year by Lauren Edwards, which MPs rejected at its Second Reading on Friday 11 September.
‘Dr Death’ taught man linked to over 90 deaths in the UK about assisted suicide
Nitschke has 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 accused of supplying lethal substances to people seeking to end their lives.
Law allegedly offered a lethal substance, alongside 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. Law has been linked to more than 90 deaths in the UK.
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”.
In May, Law formally admitted causing the deaths of 73 victims in England and Wales, and pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding and abetting suicide in Canada.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Just days after MPs decisively rejected the legalisation of assisted suicide in England and Wales, Philip Nitschke is considering setting up a service to help people travel to Switzerland to end their lives”.
“This is not the first time Nitschke has set his sights on the UK. He previously announced plans to launch a service using his Sarco suicide pod here if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill became law. Leading legal academics confirmed that the broad wording of that Bill would allow the Sarco to be used in Britain if it secured the approval of the Health Secretary. Lauren Edwards’ Bill retained the same provision”.
