Philip Nitschke, an Australian doctor, created a 'death machine' known as 'Sarco' which will help people to commit suicide in a painless and efficient manner.
The 70-year-old doctor who has been nicknamed as 'Dr. Death' and 'euthanasia guru' believes that his new invention will allow people to die peacefully.
The founder of Exit International -- an organisation that promotes voluntary euthanasia and writer of the suicide handbook 'The Peaceful Pill', initially, only spoke about euthanasia for the terminally ill.
But now, he seems to have changed his mind and believes that euthanasia shouldn't be confined to conditions and criteria. Each person should have the right to choose.
So, he developed the Sarco capsule in Netherlands which comes in two parts- a reusable machine base and a capsule that can be used as a coffin, after detaching. Both can be created on a 3D printer and assembled anywhere, according to LifeNews.com.
Dr Philip Nitschke explains website Tonic on how his new invention works by saying: "The coffin can be printed with a 3D-printer and uses liquid nitrogen, which can be bought legally. After you have taken your seat inside the machine, nitrogen starts flowing."
Nitschke adds: "After a minute and a half you start to feel disoriented—a feeling comparable to that of having a few too many drinks—and a few minutes later you lose consciousness. In about five minutes, you're gone."
However, if a person changes his/her mind after going inside the capsule, there's an 'emergency window' that can help and save the person.
Nitschke says: "Yes, there is an emergency window that opens right away when you click on it, which allows oxygen to flow into the machine at once. Additionally, you can press the stop button up until the moment you lose consciousness."
The doctor says that Sarco death is painless as there's no asphyxiation and the user breathes easily. The model is scheduled to become widely available by next year, Newsweek reported.
In the past 20 years, physician-assisted suicide has been legalised in Washington, California, Vermont, Oregon and several other European countries. Nitschke believes that this change in attitude is coming from the ageing 'Baby Boomer' generation.
He says: "I've seen a marked difference between generations...Boomers want to be in control of their own deaths. They don't like the idea of someone patting them on the head and telling them what to do."
