Exit Podcast - The Good Death

When former Dutch Supreme Court Judge, Huib Drion, wrote a short but pointed letter to the editor of the newspaper, NRC, little could he have known what his legacy would be. Drion argued that all older people should have a right to terminate their lives at a time of their choosing. He argued that this was a separate social need to that of euthanasia for the seriously ill. Drion bemoaned that older people like himself were ill-equipped to take this step in way that was peaceful and dignified. He noted that while doctors and pharmacists had access to the means, everyone else would be forced to jumping in a canal or in front of train; methods that he said did not bear thinking about. Fast forward to today and recent weeks have seen the arrest of the chairman of Dutch organisation CLW. Listeners may remember this is the group behind the Middel X powder (covered in the August Podcast); the group that is attempting to force Dutch law to take account of the need of older, rational adults and their right to a self determined death. This podcast is wide-ranging and both celebrates and comiserates the Drion letter: what does progress look like and are we there yet?

The Azide Wars have come about with the advent in the Netherlands of Middel X as an end of life method.  As a country where voluntary euthanasia has long been legal, there has been a groundswell of discontentment amongst older people who resent having to ask doctors for help to die. Addressing this souring mood has been activist group CLW who have strongly advocated the use of Middel X, an available, legal inorganic salt they claim provides individuals with a reliable end of life option. In opposition has been the Dutch Medical Association and prominent right to die activists such as Dutch psychiatrist Boudewijn Chabot who argue that Middel X is a dangerous substance that does not provide the peaceful and reliable death that CLW claim. The August 2021 PPeH update focuses on the Azide Wars and presents collected data and eye witness accounts so you can draw your own conclusion. Read more at www.peacefulpill.com

The May 2021 Exit Podcast (note name change) features an interview with Philip Nitschke as he reflects on the highs / lows of 25+ years of end of life political activism including the effect on his work of his move to the Netherlands, how it feels to be politically persecuted, major turning points in the debate and where the next generation of activists will come from and who they are.

Since the scarcity of Nembutal - the best end of life drug - in the US due to both its prohibitive price and the refusal of EU drug manufacturers to sell the drug in that country (because of objections to its use in capital punishment), other alternatives have needed to be examined by doctors working under death with dignity laws. In this Doxit Podcast, Peaceful Pill Handbook authors, Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart, discuss the evolution and emergence of the USA Lethal Drug Mixtures. The alternative multi-drug compounds provide a reliable, peaceful death for a fraction of the price of Nembutal. Their refinement over the years means that they provide a very good alternative to Nembutal. Full details of the current 5-Drug protocol, D-DMAPh and their use as effective DIY agents in published in the Feb21 update of The Peaceful Pill eHandbook

In this week's Doxit Podcast we discuss the January 2021 update to the Peaceful Pill eHandbook which focuses on the two issues of premedication and potentiation and the role both play in a peaceful and reliable death. Potentiation of lethal drugs is relevant if one has old drugs or substances or if they are from dubious sources or if they have been stored for a long time.  Potentiators are also the drugs that bring about sedation, ensuring a more acceptable ‘sleep while you die’ process. 

The NuTech Conference was held on Saturday 26 September with a 100% online program, drawing speakers from the Netherlands, US, France, Australia, Scotland & more. NuTech is the only global group to explore the possibilities offered by new technologies in regard to a peaceful and reliable death, instead of doctor-administered voluntary assisted dying. This year's NuTech conference theme is the 'Dementia Dilemma'.  Keynote speakers such as Marije de Haas, Bert Keizer and Michael Laufer explored the role of implanted switches as it relates to dementia patients (eg. The Plug). French investigative researcher Guillaume Coudray took on the Nitrite debate while Hugh Wynne will talk 'nitro foam frenzy'. US Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) physician, Lonny Shavelson, explained the science & logic behind the new D-DMA drug mixtures, Philip Nitschke unveiled Sarco X, Ted Ballou & John Todd talked gases and Richard Avocet featured his R2D Debreather. Feminist activist Kinga Jelinska warned how to avoid reinventing the wheel, while Neal Nicol examined new technologies in bio body disposal. NuTech Website is at Nutech2020.com The recording is available for purchase

In this week's Podcast, we discuss the controversial use of Nembutal in capital punishment executions in the US. In particular, we examine the argument that prisoners have recently presented to US Courts that death by pentobarbital injection causes flash pulmonary edema. Flash pulmonary edema, they say, constitutes cruel & unusual punishment. And cruel & unusual punishment is prohibited under the 8th Amendment of the US Constitution. Questions Does Nembutal cause 'flash pulmonary edema' & is this a problem? Is Nembutal still the best drug for a peaceful/ reliable death? The second issue discussed is the global move to re-categorise Nembutal, so Veterinarians are less likely to die from an overdose. Finally, this week Exit launches our new Stop Scams website at www.nembutalscams.com

This week's Doxit Podcast examines the topic of the medicalisation of death.  Whereas once a death was the domain of religion, and suicide was considered a sin against God, more recently the public discourse on suicide has medicalised the act, treating it as a mental illness. No rational person could ever wish to end their life, regardless of the reason. In this week's discussion, Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart question the semantics surrounding rational/ irrational suicide/ Voluntary Assisted Dying/ Medical Aid In Dying, drawing in particular on a recent article by Anita Hannig in the journal Cultural Anthropology (Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp. 53–77).  They explore how a death under a right to die law, is more an instance of the person/ patient gaining State (and medical) authorisation, than the person having any real authority over their life, and death.  DIY end of life strategies are the only effective means by which one's autonomy and agency can be preserved.

This week we pick up on two of the issues covered in this month's June update to the Peaceful Pill eHandbook (Nitrite & the Debreather) and discuss the recent CNN article on ME/ CFS sufferer, Cindy Shepler and her VAD at Pegasos in December last year.  The R2D Debreather is a device that enables a person to end their own life by breathing air within a closed system. Normal respiration (breathing) consumes the oxygen in the closed system. The ‘by-product’ of the respiration, carbon dioxide (CO2), is continuously removed (scrubbed) from the recirculated air.  As the oxygen level drops, the person experiences a soporific, and almost intoxicating sensation. This leads to a peaceful loss of consciousness and death. The death is peaceful because the DeBreather removes exhaled carbon dioxide.  The DeBreather has been about for many years however it was not until a new model was revealed at NuTech 2017 and its subsequent productionin 2020 that it has really 'come into its own'.

Breaking his silence, this week Exit Director and Sarco Creator, Dr Philip Nitschke, has spoken out about the first use of the Sarco, how the device operated exactly as planned, and the dirty politics which have since come into play. After 12 years of production and planning the Sarco was finally used in Switzerland on 23 September 2024 by a seriously ill American woman. She entered the Sarco unassisted, pressed the button unassisted, lost consciousness in < 2min, with death occurring at around 7 minutes. The police were notified of the death half an hour after she entered the device. While the Sarco worked precisely as expected, the aftermath of its first use has been controversial and the event surrounded by misinformation and fake news. To listen to Philip discuss the first use of the Sarco is to be better informed about the true events that took place, and why Sarco offers an accessible, drug-free option for those seeking a peaceful and reliable death. Video Podcast: https://www.exitinternational.net/VideoPodcast/VideoPodcastNov2024TueSUBTITLED.mp4

The first execution of a prisoner, Kenny Smith, using nitrogen hypoxia, took place in the US state of Alabama on 25 Jan 2024. A few weeks earlier I had visited Holman prison to inspect the new equipment they planned to use, and met Kenny on death row with his lawyer Robert Grass. I gave evidence at a hearing in Montgomery a week later in an attempt to stop the execution. Kenny died, but accounts of a slow grotesque death were horrible. When I talked with him I should have explained how he could have made his death fast, peaceful and effective.

First Exit Podcast for 2023 featuring Fiona Stewart in conversation with Philip Nitschke. The topic is the coming Canadian trial of Kenneth Law a distributor of the lethal legal salt, sodium nitrite. Described by some as a 'serial killer', but by many members of Exit as a savior who provided them with a reliable means for a peaceful death, the trial of Law will be watched closely around the world by supporters of rational suicide and the right to die.. for further details <www.exitinternational.net>

In early April, Dutch activist group, CLW launched legal action against the Dutch state arguing that the prohibition on assisted suicide and assisted suicide drugs should be abolished. These should be abolished because they prevent self-determination at the end of life. If self-determination is a fundamental human right, they argued that a nation State that keeps the right un-exercisable makes the right a false one and the State is acting unlawfully. The Dutch have taken their lead from recent constitutional court decisions in Germany and Austria which confirm that self-determination is a human right that the government should not interfere in. What is more, self-determination at the end of life exists irrespective of age and health/ illness status. This is to say that all people of sound mind have the right to determine when and how they die; they don't need a doctor to give permission or tell them how.

Exit first met Katie Englehart about 5 years ago when she was part of the production team behind the Vice documentary, Time to Die. After 4 years of filming, Vice had footage on just about everyone that Philip Nitschke had met. It was via this immersion that Engelhart would change mediums, and bring the stories of 3 Exit members into her written word. The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die is as weighty as an academic tomb, but as engaging and easy to read as a popular biography. The strength of the book is the stories of the lives that it tells; each on a different theme.  We meet Exit Members Avril Henry who is old, Maia Calloway whose body is failing her due to MS and Adam Maier-Clayton who has some serious and chronic mental illnesses. We also meet Debra Koosed who is losing her mind to dementia. Engelhart follows each of these people as they negotiate their way to a peaceful end. She incorporates two doctors working in the field, for good measure: Lonny Shavelson who is one of the talents behind the the lethal drug mixtures, highlighted in February's Doxit Podcast and yours truly, Philip Nitschke. To read The Inevitable is to be better informed. To listen to this podcast is to be the fly behind the fly on the wall ...

The year that was thanks to COVID-19 but it was not all bad news.  Exit’s Doxit Podcast ‘Looking Back Looking Forward’ reflects on the  good and the bad to come out of the pandemic experience. For example,  like so many organisations around the world, Exit moved our core  operations online. Face to face workshops were abandoned in preference  of Zoom workshops. Four, fully-online 4 hour meetings were held between  June and October across different global time zones. The NuTech 2020 conference was also held entirely online in  September. In retrospect, it seems perfect practice to have  live-streamed the last two NuTech meets in 2017 and 2018 (in addition to  in-room attendance). The step to virtual was never going to be too  hard! But COVID-19 also generated the odd good development. Not only  did Donald Trump tell the world about Chloroquine (albeit as a  life-preserver rather than ‘ender’), but developers created new  anti-viral devices; helmets which may well be valuable when it comes to  the use of gases for a peaceful and reliable end of life choice (more to  come in the PPeH). The first Doxit Podcast for 2021 examines these issues and more; including our forthcoming Exit Mini Monthly Workshops – Snippets –  which commence online Wednesday 3 February at 21.00 GMT. Registrations will open Sunday 10 January.

From 25 years ago when voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill was so controversial that the Federal Government of Australia used a hitherto unknown section of the Australian Constitution (s122) to overturn the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act to today when politicians can't act fast enough getting behind assisted dying laws as a show of compassion and humanity, the right to die has come a long way. And so 2020 draws to a close with New Zealand finally passing a binding referendum that will see an End of Life Choice Act introduced in that country while Queensland makes Dying with Dignity an election promise. Meanwhile in Tasmania, politicians are falling over themselves as defenders of human rights at the end of life. This Doxit Podcast discusses the pros/ cons of a medicalised legislative model, in terms of who is served and who is excluded from eligibility, asking is this the best way forward? 

In this Doxit Podcast we explore the physiology behind the good death. Taking the recent new Peaceful Pill eHandbook chapter on 'Death Physiology' as our starting point, we discuss the science behind the efficacy of some methods as distinct from others (eg. Nembutal over Opiates) and consider how each strategy discussed in the book falls into one of four categories of hypoxia: hypoxic, hypermic, ischemic & histotoxic. In understanding better how the different methods work on the body, there can be increased confidence in the efficacy of a method to provide a peaceful and reliable Exit at a time of one's choosing.

Sarco X is a 3D-printed euthanasia capsule that provides a peaceful and reliable death.  First exhibited at the Amsterdam Funeral Fair in 2018 and then at Venice Design in 2019 and Cube Design Museum in 2020, the latest iteration of the Sarco - Sarco X - has recently undergone its final lab testing at Haarlem in the Netherlands and is now ready for use.  The Sarco works by creating a hypoxic (low oxygen) environment. It is 3D-printed in order to ensure it is lawful (you can print your own). The plans will be made available in due course in The Peaceful Pill eHandbook.  Sarco is fully portable so it can be taken to a location of one's choosing. It is beautiful to look at because dying - like living - can be an occasion for reflection, peace and even celebration. See more at Sarco.design

In 2018, Graham Morant was found guilty of inciting (and assisting)his wife Jenny to suicide. This is the first case where a charge of incitement to suicide has led to a conviction. Graham received 6 years for assisting Jenny's suicide and 10 years for inciting. These sentences were to be served concurrently. but... At the time of his trial the Court was unaware of a series of emails that Jenny Morant had sent to Exit, pleading for help in her plan to suicide. She described her husband as unhelpful and unwilling to help her; a very different story to how Graham was portrayed in court.  These emails became the basis for Graham's appeal against his convictions and sentence. In June 2020, however,  the Queensland Court of Appeal concluded that  the email woulds not have altered the decision of the jury. This podcast reviews this bizarre decision and looks at it in the context of this hitherto little known crime of incitement to suicide. Jenny Morant had undergone unsuccessful spinal surgery (following many years of osteoporosis). The legacy of the surgery left her living in constant pain for which there was no relief. Interestingly, sadly, Jenny would not have qualified for Queensland's anticipated voluntary assisted dying bill which the Queensland Labor Government plans to introduce following their 2020 re-election victory.

Long before President Trump touted that chloroquine would be the ‘game changer’ in the fight against COVID-19, this under-rated and useful end of life drug was making something of a comeback since it was first promoted by the French suicide manual Suicide Mode d’Emploi in 1982. The ready availability of this anti-malarial has contributed to its growing use as a means of providing a reliable death. Cambodian despot, Pol Pot, is believed to have used chloroquine (in conjunction with Valium) on the eve of the announcement by the Khmer Rouge that they planned to hand him over to international authorities for trial. First synthesised in the 1930s as a substitute for naturally produced quinine, the drug was found to be effective against malaria. However, its widespread use was delayed until after the Second World War, because of concerns over the drug’s narrow therapeutic range. Ie. a side-effect was death. This Podcast is based on the June 2020 update to the Peaceful Pill Handbook. Chloroquine is now a much-discussed drug following Donald Trump's claim to be taking chloroquine to protect him from COVID-19. The scientific jury is still out on its impact on coronavirus symptoms. Check out the June 2020 update to the Peaceful Pill eHandbook at www.peacefulpillhandbook.com