Euthanasia suicide tourists to Switzerland

Influx of suicide tourists to Switzerland

08/21/2014

Active euthanasia is a highly controversial topic. As in Germany, suicide is prohibited in most European countries. In Switzerland, however, there is no correspondingly clear legal regulation. Therefore, many travel to „Suicide tourism“ into the Swiss cantons, according to a recent study by scientists from the University of Zurich and the Psychiatry Center in Münsingen. The investigation of the research team around Dr. Saskia Gauthier in the British trade magazine „Journal of Medical Ethics“.

The possibilities for euthanasia lead, according to the researchers „to an influx of suicide tourists to Switzerland, especially to the canton of Zurich, for the sole purpose of committing suicide there.“ A majority of the suicidal ones came from Germany, Great Britain and France. With their current study, the scientists also want to promote the discussion on active euthanasia in neighboring countries. „The unique phenomenon of suicide tourism in Switzerland can indeed lead to changes or additional guidelines for existing regulations abroad“, the Swiss researchers rate their study results.

Increasing suicide tourism
In Swiss forensic medicine, experts deal with cases of active suicide on an almost daily basis, reports Saskia Gauthier and colleagues. To record the extent of suicide tourism, the researchers analyzed data from the Zurich Institute of Legal Medicine on deceased persons without residence in Switzerland from 2008 to 2012. A total of 611 cases from 31 countries around the world were considered. The scientists identified age, gender and country of suicide tourists' residence. The organizations involved, the ingested substance that led to death, and all the diseases that gave rise to euthanasia were also recorded. The researchers compared their results with the results of previous examinations and found here, for example, that the non-fatal sufferers „Non-terminal illnesses such as neurological and rheumatic diseases among suicide tourists have greatly increased.“

Talk about euthanasia
The current legislation and political debate in the three most affected countries (Germany, Great Britain and France) should, according to the Swiss researchers, take into account the study results now presented. According to the scientists, most of the suicide tourists from Germany were given the information about the organization Dignitas. Overall, the age of the deceased considered between 23 and 97 years, the average age was 69 years. The most common cause of suicide was neurological diseases, followed by cancer, rheumatic diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Almost a third of those affected suffered from several illnesses. In particular, the growing proportion of suicidal tourists with non-fatal diseases will, according to the researchers, have consequences for regulations in neighboring countries. (Fp)