Euthanasia tour
The flow of "suicide tourism" in Switzerland has doubled in 4 years
Copper news
The number of so-called "suicide tourists" coming to Switzerland for the purpose of euthanasia doubled in four years, from 2009 to 2012.
Such data are presented in a scientific paper devoted to the study of the phenomenon of Swiss "suicide tourism" and published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (Gauthier et al., Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the Swiss phenomenon, in open access).
According to the legislation in force in Switzerland, euthanasia is allowed there not only for citizens of the country, but also for foreigners suffering from incurable diseases leading to death. Individuals and clinics who are not interested in the death of patients are allowed to help in the implementation of "legalized suicide".
There are six similar organizations in Switzerland, four of which, including the world-famous Dignitas clinic, have a license to serve foreigners.
Analysis of the database of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Zurich showed that from 2008 to 2012, 611 foreigners from 31 countries of the world were helped to die in Switzerland, and all but four of them were patients of the Dignitas clinic.
Two-thirds of the total number of "suicidal tourists" were citizens of Germany (268) and Great Britain (126), the top ten also included the French (66), Italians (44), Americans (21), Austrians (14), Canadians (12), Spaniards (8) and Israelis (8) At the same time, from 2009 to 2012, the total number of those wishing to use legal euthanasia in Switzerland doubled (see the table from the article in J Med Ethics – VM).
The age of the patients ranged from 23 to 97 years, 58.5 percent of them were women. Almost half suffered from various neurological diseases, such as paralysis, motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, as well as cancer and rheumatic diseases.
Currently, euthanasia in one form or another, in addition to Switzerland, is legalized in four European countries – the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France, as well as in some US states.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.08.2014