Nitschke left euthanasia device behind over UK customs seizure concerns
Dr Philip Nitschke, the euthanasia campaigner known as "Dr Death," spoke at a London event promoting his "suicide collar" device but did not bring it into the country, saying he feared it would be seized by customs. His visit had drawn calls from MPs and campaigners for the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to bar him from entering Britain, and it came just days before MPs are due to vote at Second Reading on Lauren Edwards' revived assisted dying Bill.
The Australian founder of Exit International left the device, called "Kairos," in the Netherlands rather than risk it being confiscated. The collar uses two balloons to compress the carotid artery, causing unconsciousness followed by death, and Nitschke has said he plans to use it for the first time on a woman in Switzerland as a "test subject." At the packed west London event, attended largely by elderly people considering assisted suicide, a representative of Swiss clinic Athanasios also spoke, noting that 40 to 60 people from the UK have used the organisation to end their lives, and that Switzerland does not share information on such cases with UK authorities.
- Nitschke left his "suicide collar" abroad, fearing UK customs would seize it
- MPs had urged the Home Secretary to bar him from entering Britain
- Visit came days before a vote on the UK's assisted dying Bill
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Dr Philip Nitschke is an Australian doctor and long-time campaigner for voluntary euthanasia, known by the nickname "Dr Death" and founder of the group Exit International. He has developed a device called "Kairos," dubbed the "suicide collar," which uses two balloons to press on the neck's carotid arteries, causing unconsciousness and death. He recently spoke at an event in London, but chose to leave the device itself behind in the Netherlands.
The visit was controversial before it even happened, with some MPs and campaigners urging the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to stop him entering the UK altogether. Its timing matters because it falls just before MPs vote on a Second Reading of a new assisted dying Bill brought by Lauren Edwards, meaning the debate around Nitschke's visit is closely tied to the wider, ongoing political argument over whether assisted dying should be legalised in Britain.
The story also touches on existing routes some UK residents already use to end their lives abroad, since assisted suicide is not currently legal in the UK. Switzerland permits it under certain conditions, and clinics there, such as Athanasios, have assisted a number of UK citizens; Swiss authorities do not routinely share details of these cases with the UK. This backdrop of foreign clinics and campaigners like Nitschke is central to why his UK appearance has drawn political attention.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Controversial right-to-die campaigner dubbed ‘Dr Death’ speaks in London to promote his ‘suicide collar’ – but without the device over fears ‘it would get stopped at customs’”.