Swiss law consists of several important factors that frame assisted dying.

Swiss regulations frame VAD at Pegasos

Important factors outlined by the Swiss Law

  1. The Swiss Penal Code allows for assisted suicide, as long as the motive of those assisting is not selfish.
  2. The person requesting assistance to death must possess:
    • Decision-making capacity; and
    • They must have ‘control’ or ‘ownership of the action’ over their death (‘Tatherrschaft’ in German). (See Art. 115 StGB of the Swiss Penal Code & the decision of the Swiss Federal Court BGE 133 I 58).
Swiss Law

Implications of these factors for a VAD at Pegasos

  1. A person must be of sound mind: While there is a presumption that those applying to Pegasos will have capacity, if a neurological or mental health diagnosis is present, often a consultation with a psychiatrist will be required. Pegasos will point to such an independent professional, if you cannot find one.
  2. It is the person, themselves, who must push the button. This is what makes a death at Pegasos, a Voluntary Assisted Death (VAD), rather than doctor-administered ‘euthanasia’.  Pegasos has developed an ingenious device that requires a simple bump to start the infusion, where even tetraplegic people can open the drip themselves.