Dignitas protocol for prolonged time to exit?

[phoenitic_riser]

Since euthanasia is not legal in Switzerland, I wonder how they handle cases where death does not occur "fast" (this is in contrast to Netherlands where a physician would intervene). My search yielded nothing relevant. Does anyone here know by any chance?

Swiss data

My concern is planning for the worst case where my own exit takes "too long" for whatever reason.

Hoping to leverage best practices from Dignitas :)

* In Peter Auhagen's case, apparently Dignitas intervened
* Lifecircle uses IV instead of oral (used by Dignitas and Exit). Surprised this is not the de facto method.

 

[cornflowerblue]

Since euthanasia is not legal in Switzerland, I wonder how they handle cases where death does not occur "fast" (this is in contrast to Netherlands where a physician would intervene). My search yielded nothing relevant. Does anyone here know by any chance?

Swiss data

My concern is planning for the worst case where my own exit takes "too long" for whatever reason.

Hoping to leverage best practices from Dignitas :)

* In Peter Auhagen's case, apparently Dignitas intervened
* Lifecircle uses IV instead of oral (used by Dignitas and Exit). Surprised this is not the de facto method.

I think they always just finish for the patient. Not possible to replicate at home unfortunately.

 

[phoenitic_riser]

I think they always just finish for the patient. Not possible to replicate at home unfortunately.

"just finish for the patient" how? You mean they are setup to wait it out no matter how long it takes?

 

[cornflowerblue]

"just finish for the patient" how? You mean they are setup to wait it out no matter how long it takes?

It says in the article you posted
"In 300 of the Exit deaths in Canton Zurich, a barbiturate was the only drug used (following in- gestion of an anti-emetic) and was taken orally in 276 cases. In 261 cases 10–12 g pentobarbital was taken orally: the median interval before death was 23 minutes (range 7–1075 minutes, table 6). In 15 cases 10–15 g secobarbital was ingested and the median time to death was 25 minutes (range 11– 626 minutes). In 22 cases, 10–15 g pentobarbital was administered intravenously and caused death after a median time of 16 minutes (range 4–45 minutes). In two further cases, pentobarbital was administered via PEG catheter."

"

A significant procedural change occurred after 1997, when i.v. infusions and gastric tubes were introduced for drug administration. These cases have been classified as assisted suicide by the au- thorities, since the final decisive step causing death (i.e. starting the infusion) had actually been taken by the person wishing to die [23]. This means that even severely ill people, e.g. with difficulties in swallowing, are now no longer excluded from as- sisted suicide in Switzerland [24]. In the Nether- lands, however, these techniques would probably be classed as voluntary active euthanasia [25]."

 

[phoenitic_riser]

It says in the article you posted
"In 300 of the Exit deaths in Canton Zurich, a barbiturate was the only drug used (following in- gestion of an anti-emetic) and was taken orally in 276 cases. In 261 cases 10–12 g pentobarbital was taken orally: the median interval before death was 23 minutes (range 7–1075 minutes, table 6). In 15 cases 10–15 g secobarbital was ingested and the median time to death was 25 minutes (range 11– 626 minutes). In 22 cases, 10–15 g pentobarbital was administered intravenously and caused death after a median time of 16 minutes (range 4–45 minutes). In two further cases, pentobarbital was administered via PEG catheter."

"

A significant procedural change occurred after 1997, when i.v. infusions and gastric tubes were introduced for drug administration. These cases have been classified as assisted suicide by the au- thorities, since the final decisive step causing death (i.e. starting the infusion) had actually been taken by the person wishing to die [23]. This means that even severely ill people, e.g. with difficulties in swallowing, are now no longer excluded from as- sisted suicide in Switzerland [24]. In the Nether- lands, however, these techniques would probably be classed as voluntary active euthanasia [25]."

Thanks for reading the paper.

My question was about the 276 cases where it took ~18hrs with Nembutal and ~10hrs with Seconal. Seems like they just waited it out.

The dosage is now higher at 15g of Nembutal but I could not find updated stats...

 

[cornflowerblue]

Thanks for reading the paper.

My question was about the 276 cases where it took ~18hrs with Nembutal and ~10hrs with Seconal. Seems like they just waited it out.

The dosage is now higher at 15g of Nembutal but I could not find updated stats...

Oh, yeah I think it said they waited out the coma and the person died

 

[stbdchick]

Derek Humphrey recommends a bunch of beta-blockers if you have a particularly strong heart, to hurry things along.

I don't think you're aware or anything. You're out, no matter how long it takes for your heart to finally stop. So however long it takes won't bother you, ya know? It'll be like anesthesia, except no waking up.

 

[LifeIsNotFun]

I'm taking 19g of the lethal drug, so it should go quick right?

 

[phoenitic_riser]

Derek Humphrey recommends a bunch of beta-blockers if you have a particularly strong heart, to hurry things along.

I don't think you're aware or anything. You're out, no matter how long it takes for your heart to finally stop. So however long it takes won't bother you, ya know? It'll be like anesthesia, except no waking up.

Thank you.

Admiraal et al say

"The authors do not see sound toxicological arguments for the combination
of pentobarbital with a beta-blocker like propranolol, neither do
they have empirical data against using it. On clinical pharmaceutical
grounds an overdose of beta-blocker may in some people induce cardiac
fibrillation while in others it may protect against this"

Sounds inconclusive..

The prolonged phase can impact how much "alone" time one ought to plan for...

 

[stbdchick]

I thought we were talking about Dignitas.

If it were me, I'd go with a conservative estimate and assume the 18 hours. Like check into a hotel for 2 days and put up the "do not disturb." Or wait till the wasband/roommate was away for a weekend.

 

[LifeIsNotFun]

I thought we were talking about Dignitas.

If it were me, I'd go with a conservative estimate and assume the 18 hours. Like check into a hotel for 2 days and put up the "do not disturb." Or wait till the wasband/roommate was away for a weekend.

18 hours was in the rarest cases. So that's only 0.3% of the cases.