Swiss and British researchers analyzed medical data from the Zurich Forensic Institute and found that after a decrease between 2008 and 2009, the overall number of assisted suicides committed by non-Swiss people doubled between 2009 and 2012 in this country where medically assisted death is authorized.
The results of the survey reveal that the patients came from 31 different countries around the world, most of them from Europe. Almost half came from Germany (43.9%), then the United Kingdom (20.6%) and France (10.8%). Over the years more countries were affected by this phenomenon, it has greatly increased in Germany, Italy, France, UK and US. 611 non-Swiss residents asked to be able to choose to die in Switzerland between 2008 and 2012. Among them 268 Germans, 126 British, and 66 French patients. These assisted suicide volunteers were between 23 and 97 years old, with an average age of 69 years.
The main reasons given for this choice at the end of life were neurological diseases (47%), cancer (37%), rheumatic diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
“The phenomenon of suicide tourism has grown significantly over the years and continues to spread. Our results showed an increase in the growing proportion of neurological and rheumatic diseases diagnosed among “assisted suicide tourists”. This means that patients with non-fatal diseases are increasingly making this choice, ”concludes Dr Saskia Gauthier, from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich.
“The development of ‘death tourism’ in Switzerland has led to a lively debate in several neighboring countries, some of which are now considering changing their laws,” explains Dr Charles Foster, from the University of Oxford, one of the authors of the ‘study. “The general public is slowly realizing that it is rather embarrassing intellectually, but also morally, to let another country do the dirty work for it” concludes the researcher.
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