The rising rates of assisted suicide in Switzerland is raising ethical and legal concerns over why so many people are specifically going to Switzerland to end their lives.
In what can be called "suicide tourism," researchers have found that the amount of assisted suicides in Switzerland grew more than a third from 2008 to 2012.
The study, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, found that Germans and the British were the most popular groups of tourists that make their final travel to Switzerland.
Researchers took statistics from data of death records at the University of Zurich, which specify assisted suicides. They found that in Zurich, suicide tourism rose from 123 cases in 2008 to 172 cases in 2012.
"In the UK, at least, 'going to Switzerland' has become a euphemism for (assisted suicide)," the study authors write. "Six right-to-die organizations assist in approximately 600 cases of suicide per year; some 150-200 of which are suicide tourists."
Out of the six assisted suicide organizations in Switzerland, four of them allow people from other countries to use their services. Dignitas, the main assisted suicide organization near Zurich, has over 5,000 members in 60 countries. "To live with dignity, to die with dignity," is its motto.
While Germany had the highest number of suicide tourists at 268, the U.K. followed with 126. France, Italy, Austria, Canada, Spain and Israel all made the top 10.
According to the study, 611 assisted suicide cases happened between 2008 and 2012. The people ranged in ages 23 to 97, with the average age of 69 and almost 60 percent of people seeking assisted suicide in Switzerland were women.
The most common reason why suicide tourists decide to end their lives is because of neurological conditions like paralysis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Cancer and rheumatic diseases were also common reasons.
Most of the assisted suicide cases included taking sodium pentobarbital, which is prescribed for specific conditions under the Swiss law. The researchers called some of the deaths "excruciating."
In the U.S., physicians are able to provide lethal prescriptions for sick patient's ready to die. Assisted suicide is legal in five states: Vermont, Montana, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico.
