Switzerland did not violate any human rights when it refused to give a mentally ill man over-the-counter access to a drug in order to end his life.
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In a ruling on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg dismissed an appeal by the 58-year-old man, who after two suicide attempts in 2004 turned to Dignitas, a Swiss assisted suicide organisation.
However, no doctor was prepared to write a prescription for the necessary 15 grams of sodium pentobarbital, which is available only on prescription.
He then turned to the cantonal authorities in Zurich and the government to try to obtain the drug without a prescription. He was turned away, the rejection being confirmed by the federal court in 2006.
The European Court of Human Rights concluded that the Swiss authorities, in refusing to provide the drug without a prescription, had not violated the man’s right to respect for his private and family life.
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But a Zurich University survey into public attitudes on these issues – the first of its kind in the country – also found a lack of support for “death tourism” where foreigners come to Switzerland to end their lives. The results of the poll of around 1,500 people, which was published by the university’s Criminology…
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The issues of gun suicide and Switzerland’s high rate of weapon ownership came under the spotlight again in January. The police chief overseeing security at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos turned his service revolver against himself a day before the event began. His case is hardly unique. From 1996 to…
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Frank Petermann, an expert in medical law in St Gallen, tells swissinfo.ch that the planned regulations go against human rights and will fail to prevent people from travelling to Switzerland to die. Right-to-die organisations have also been quick to dismiss the government plans as outdated and patronising. Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf presented two draft bills…
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