Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland authorizes assistance for suicide for the terminally ill under strict and limited conditions, but the head of Dignitas in Zurich, Ludwig Minelli, is reported by Blick newspaper as saying he’d like to see this taken a step further. Minelli told the magazine he believes family members who care for the terminally ill should in some cases be helped, too, if they want to commit suicide. He was commenting on the case of a man, 64, who strangled his wife, 73, who had Alzheimers, after taking care of her alone for seven years.
Dignitas is frequently in the news, particularly in the UK, because it offers suicide assistance, prompting suicide tourism from Britain, which does not allow assistance under any circumstances.
Minelli’s remarks prompted strong reactions, according to 24 Heures, which interviewed health care specialists and politicians, including Birgitta Martensson, head of the Swiss Alzheimers Association, who calls it “grotesque”.
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News story, GenevaLunch, 19 October 2010.
Tags: Alzheimers, Dignitas, Ludwig Minelli, suicide, Zurich