© Independent
Philip Nitschke, nicknamed Dr. Death, with his new Destiny machine.
Philip Nitschke, nicknamed Dr. Death, with his new Destiny machine.
Right-to-die campaigner Philip Nitschke, 67, will invite people on stage to inhale gas from his updated version of the Deliverance machine that helped end the lives of four terminally people in the 1990s using intravenous drugs. Dr Nitschke said the move to gas made his new Destiny euthanasia machine much easier to use as no special skills, such as inserting an IV tube, are required.
Destiny asks three questions before delivering a lethal gas made up of nine per cent carbon monoxide and 91 per cent nitrogen through either a face mask, or nasal prongs, to the patient wanting to die. Volunteers at next month's 'Dicing with Dr Death' show, the first public appearance of the new machine, will receive 100 per cent nitrogen.
The new Destiny euthanasia machine is said to be much easier to use than its predecessor Deliverance
Dr Nitschke said the change followed discussions during development in Michigan with Neal Nicol, the assistant of American euthanasia activist Dr Jack Kevorkian, jailed for his direct role in a case of voluntary euthanasia, who died in 2011.
"Suicide is not a crime in the UK, and assistance is not required to use Destiny, which is perfectly legal," Dr Nitschke told The Independent. "The gas that provides the peaceful death is not restricted. Neal Nicol was present at the deaths of over 50 people who died inhaling nine per cent monoxide, and in his opinion, this method is as peaceful and effective as the more difficult administration of intravenous drugs.
Comment: Why have a televised advertisement for assisted suicide? Is that entertainment? While giving people who are truly suffering the choice to move on is a humane thing to do, given our current fascist world and what happened in Nazi, Germany, it may be conditioning toward the idea of eugenics.