Latest news with #DrFlorianWillet
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Sarco suicide pod's SECOND victim: The doctor who witnessed woman's death, unanswered 'strangulation' questions, and the boss who now says: 'He was paranoid and delusional'
When he was five years old, Dr Florian Willet used to walk around the neighbourhood where he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, looking up. It's a picturesque city, fringed by the lush Black Forest, where the warm weather breeds fig and almond trees and rainbow-coloured parakeets swoop overhead.
Daily Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Telegraph
Suicide pod doctor dies after ‘strangling' claim
Don't miss out on the headlines from Innovation. Followed categories will be added to My News. A prominent euthanasia advocate has died months after he was detained by Swiss authorities on suspicion of strangling the first person to use a controversial 3D-printed 'suicide capsule' after the device allegedly failed to work. Dr Florian Willet, 47, died in Germany on May 5, according to an obituary by Australian right-to-die activist Dr Philip Nitschke posted on the website of The Last Resort, the assisted dying group founded by Dr Willet. 'He is dearly missed,' Dr Nitschke wrote. Dr Nitschke, the founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International, is the inventor of the 'Sarco' capsule, which was used by a chronically ill US woman in a Swiss forest on September 23 last year. Dr Willet was the only person present for the death and called police who later took him into custody. The 'Sarco' cost $1.5 million to develop, according to Dr Nitschke, and allows a person sitting reclined in a seat to push a button that floods the chamber with nitrogen gas. Within minutes, the user is supposed to slip into unconsciousness before they die of suffocation. On October 26, Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported the Swiss prosecutor had indicated in court that the 64-year-old woman might have actually been strangled. Dr Nitschke said 'this allegation has no foundation'. He said Dr Willet was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days until December 2. Dr Florian Willet has died in Germany. Picture: Supplied 'When Florian was released suddenly and unexpectedly from pre-trial detention in early December 2024, he was a changed man,' he wrote. 'Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who was deeply traumatised by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation. In the early days of 2025, Florian 'fell' from the third floor of his Zurich apartment building. He would spend the following three months undergoing surgery and in rehab in Switzerland. During this time he was cared for by a full psychiatric team.' Dr Willet's psychiatric discharge report in January stated that he was suffering from 'an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder (F23.0) which is currently subsiding under antipsychotic therapy, and which has developed following the stress of the pre-trial detention and the associated processes', according to Dr Nitschke. 'Florian's spirit was broken,' he wrote. Euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke and his Sarco pod. Picture: Supplied 'He knew that he did nothing illegal or wrong, but his belief in the rule of law in Switzerland was in tatters. In the final months of his life, Dr Florian Willet shouldered more than any man should. He was bravely present when the Sarco was used. Everyone needs a Florian by their side in their final moments. Florian has now paid the ultimate price — his life — for his compassion. Florian will live forever in our hearts.' Dr Nitschke first broke his silence on the controversy in a November interview with the Associated Press, telling the wire service he was 'desperate' about the plight of Dr Willet. 'It is absurd because we've got film that the capsule wasn't opened,' he said. 'She got in herself, pressed the button herself.' Other people were also arrested after the woman's death, including a journalist with a Dutch newspaper, but were later released. Dr Nitschke said the woman, from the US midwest, had 'compromised immune function' that made her 'subject to chronic infection'. In a separate interview, Dr Nitschke said Dr Willet had told him the death had been 'peaceful, fast, and dignified'. Dr Nitschke said he had been told the pod's use would be legal in Switzerland, one of the few countries foreigners can come to legally end their life. — with NCA NewsWire Originally published as Suicide pod doctor dies after 'strangling' claim
News.com.au
06-06-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Suicide pod doctor dies after ‘strangling' claim
A prominent euthanasia advocate has died months after he was detained by Swiss authorities on suspicion of strangling the first person to use a controversial 3D-printed 'suicide capsule' after the device allegedly failed to work. Dr Florian Willet, 47, died in Germany on May 5, according to an obituary by Australian right-to-die activist Dr Philip Nitschke posted on the website of The Last Resort, the assisted dying group founded by Dr Willet. 'He is dearly missed,' Dr Nitschke wrote. Dr Nitschke, the founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International, is the inventor of the 'Sarco' capsule, which was used by a chronically ill US woman in a Swiss forest on September 23 last year. Dr Willet was the only person present for the death and called police who later took him into custody. The 'Sarco' cost $1.5 million to develop, according to Dr Nitschke, and allows a person sitting reclined in a seat to push a button that floods the chamber with nitrogen gas. Within minutes, the user is supposed to slip into unconsciousness before they die of suffocation. On October 26, Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported the Swiss prosecutor had indicated in court that the 64-year-old woman might have actually been strangled. Dr Nitschke said 'this allegation has no foundation'. He said Dr Willet was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days until December 2. 'When Florian was released suddenly and unexpectedly from pre-trial detention in early December 2024, he was a changed man,' he wrote. 'Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who was deeply traumatised by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation. In the early days of 2025, Florian 'fell' from the third floor of his Zurich apartment building. He would spend the following three months undergoing surgery and in rehab in Switzerland. During this time he was cared for by a full psychiatric team.' Dr Willet's psychiatric discharge report in January stated that he was suffering from 'an acute polymorphic psychotic disorder (F23.0) which is currently subsiding under antipsychotic therapy, and which has developed following the stress of the pre-trial detention and the associated processes', according to Dr Nitschke. 'Florian's spirit was broken,' he wrote. 'He knew that he did nothing illegal or wrong, but his belief in the rule of law in Switzerland was in tatters. In the final months of his life, Dr Florian Willet shouldered more than any man should. He was bravely present when the Sarco was used. Everyone needs a Florian by their side in their final moments. Florian has now paid the ultimate price — his life — for his compassion. Florian will live forever in our hearts.' Dr Nitschke first broke his silence on the controversy in a November interview with the Associated Press, telling the wire service he was 'desperate' about the plight of Dr Willet. 'It is absurd because we've got film that the capsule wasn't opened,' he said. 'She got in herself, pressed the button herself.' Other people were also arrested after the woman's death, including a journalist with a Dutch newspaper, but were later released. Dr Nitschke said the woman, from the US midwest, had 'compromised immune function' that made her 'subject to chronic infection'. In a separate interview, Dr Nitschke said Mr Willet, who was the only person present for the death, had told him it had been 'peaceful, fast, and dignified'. Dr Nitschke said he had been told the pod's use would be legal in Switzerland, one of the few countries foreigners can come to legally end their life.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Euthanasia activist arrested over 'suicide pod' dies
A pro-euthanasia activist who was arrested following the death of a woman using the world's first so-called suicide pod has Florian Willet, 47, was reportedly the only other person present when a 64-year-old American woman took her own life using the device in a forest in Switzerland last pod's inventor Philip Nitschke told BBC News that Dr Willet died by assisted suicide in a separate statement, Mr Nitschke said Dr Willet had suffered psychological trauma following his arrest and detention in connection with the Switzerland death. If you are experiencing any of the issues mentioned in this story you can visit BBC Action Line for a list of websites and helplines that can offer direct help at any time. "In the final months of his life, Dr Florian Willet shouldered more than any man should," he Last Resort - an assisted dying organisation founded by Dr Willet to facilitate the use of the pod - said the arrest had left him "broken".The activist was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days while police investigated whether he had intentionally killed the woman - an allegation he was not charged to his death on 5 May, Dr Willet fell from a third-floor window, the group said, leaving him requiring surgery and needing to be "cared for by a full psychiatric team".While assisted dying is legally protected in some circumstances in Switzerland, it is strictly regulated, and the pod has encountered say the device - manufactured by Sarco - provides an assisted dying option which is not reliant on drugs or doctors and expands potential access. Critics fear the device's modern design glamorises suicide, and that the fact that it can be operated without medical oversight is dying is illegal in the UK and in most other European countries, but thousands have travelled to Switzerland over the years to end their own News has contacted the Swiss prosecutor's office for comment.
Sky News
03-06-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Dr Florian Willet: Euthanasia advocate dies after being arrested over woman's 'suicide capsule' death
A euthanasia advocate has died after being detained following a woman's "suicide capsule" death in Switzerland. Dr Florian Willet, who was arrested over the first reported use of the Sarco pod, died on 5 May, months after falling from the third floor of his building, according to an obituary written by Australian-born doctor Philip Nitschke, who invented the capsule. Dr Willet was the co-president of The Last Resort, a Swiss affiliate of assisted dying group Exit International, and was the only person present during the death of a 64-year-old American woman in a forest cabin in Merishausen, northern Switzerland, in September 2024. Exit International said the woman suffered from "severe immune compromise" and she was the first person to die using the 3D-printed Sarco pod, which it said cost more than $1m (£747,440) to develop. The capsule is designed to allow a person inside to push a button that begins the assisted dying procedure. Dr Willet was arrested in the Swiss forest and placed in pre-trial detention for 70 days, with a prosecutor alleging that the pod had not worked and the woman had instead suffered injuries consistent with strangulation. Exit International claimed there was "no foundation" for the allegation, and previously said in a statement that the assisted suicide had been filmed and the footage had been provided to the prosecution. Dr Willet had described the woman's death as "peaceful, fast and dignified", Exit International said. Dr Nitschke, who lives in the Netherlands, said he was "pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed... to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person's choosing". He added that his organisation received advice from Swiss lawyers that using the Sarco would be legal in the country. Dr Willet was released from pre-trial detention in early December, but "he was a changed man" who lost his smile and self-confidence, whose "spirit was broken" and who "seemed deeply traumatised by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation", according to Dr Nitschke. The 47-year-old sought psychiatric support in Zurich at Christmas, but discharged himself from the clinic before New Year's Eve. In January, Dr Willet fell from the third floor of his Zurich flat. "He did serious damage," Dr Nitschke said, claiming doctors had diagnosed Dr Willet with an acute polymorphic disorder brought on by "the stress of the pre-trial detention and the associated pressures". Dr Willet had surgery and went to rehab for his injuries in the three months after his fall. On 5 May, he died by assisted suicide in Cologne, Germany, Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reports. Assisted dying is legal in Germany. Swiss law allows assisted suicide so long as the person takes his or her life with no "external assistance" and those who help the person die do not do so for "any self-serving motive". Switzerland is among the only countries in the world where foreigners can travel to legally end their lives. It is home to several organisations dedicated to helping people achieve this. However, some politicians have argued the law is unclear and sought to close what they say are legal loopholes, with health minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider suggesting the use of the Sarco would not be legal.
