Assistance au suicide : expérience et débats en Suisse

Abstract

Swiss law concerning assisted suicide being quite permissive, this practice is essentially regulated, when performed by a doctor, by medico-ethical directives. Assisted suicide (act performed by the patient himself) must not be confused with direct active euthanasia (act performed by the doctor), the second being criminally repressed. Three main associations perform assisted suicides in Switzerland, Dignitas is particular by accepting assisted suicide for patients living outside of the country. It has been politically discussed to limit or even forbid assisted suicide being practiced by organizations. In 2011, the federal council gave up this proposal; the risk of such a decision would have been to favor “wild” assisted suicide practice, without supervision and control. Any death consecutive to assisted suicide implies justice investigation, with medico-legal examination of the corpse and check of medical indication justifying medical pentobarbital prescription for assisted suicide. The number of assisted suicides being practiced in Switzerland has constantly increased during the ten last years, but is still corresponding to only a minimal proportion of deaths (0.48%). In the French part of Switzerland, we notice an increase of the proportion of patients asking for assisted suicide for physical and/or psychological suffering resulting of aged-related invalidating polypathologies; this is probably in relation with increase of life expectancy and improvement of curative treatments. In this context, Exit association specifically mentions, since 2014, this criterion in the requirements to accept providing assisted suicide.