Contrary to widely-held opinions, people suffering from mental health problems normally have sufficient capacity of discernment to decide whether they would like to continue living or, instead, to end their suffering and life. Therefore, and as a general rule, they are entitled to ask for an assisted suicide and should receive assistance just as much as people suffering from physical health problems. Furthermore, access to this option needs to be made available in order not t

Switzerland does not have a specific law or act regulating the procedure of professional assisted suicide. However, this does not mean that there is no legal basis. In fact, there are a number of law articles and court decisions in place which build a robust framework and which have been the basis for the now 35 years of Swiss practice of assisted suicide combined with further end-of -life help. This practice, which has its roots in the tradition of freedom and self-responsib

Anyone may get in touch with DIGNITAS, no matter what their reason. And in the frame of DIGNITAS resources, everyone receives advice and support. This includes guidance on health care advance directives (advance decisions), directing people at an acute risk of suicide towards crisis intervention centres, giving guidance on palliative care, providing information about other helping organizations as well as expert physicians, etc. DIGNITAS focuses on giving advice adapted to th

On 15 May 2011, Zurich celebrated a double victory in a Zurich Cantonal people's vote: the people of Zurich supported by 85% and 78% respectively the activities in the field of assisted suicide as well as the efforts to grant this option to individuals from outside Switzerland. The vote came about because two conservative Christian political groups had started two referendums, which aimed at prohibiting assisted suicide entirely and aimed at making it impossible for an indivi

Proportionate approach means adopting procedures commensurate with the balance of risks and benefits, should always be adopted so that potential participants are not overwhelmed by unnecessarily lengthy, complex and inaccessible information sheets but instead are provided with succinct, relevant, truth information in a user-friendly manner that better promotes autonomy. Information should be proportionate to the nature and the complexity of the research; the risks, burdens an

This was a landmark court decision in Scots delict law and English tort law by the House of Lords. It laid the foundation of the modern law of negligence, establishing general principles of the duty of care. Mrs Donoghue asked her friend to buy a bottle of ginger beer from the cafe owner and the ginger beer was provided by the manufacturer Mr Stevenson. A dead snail was in the bottle and Mrs Donoghue fell ill. She sued Mr Stevenson. The House of Lords held that the manufactur