Swiss Suicide Clinic Under Fire After Deaths Without Medical A Condition

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Article: Suicide clinics have many controversial deaths (Link).

Judith Hamilton, Alastair's mother.

Yahoo news reported the an article in People Magazine states that families of people who died at a Swiss suicide clinic are saying that their loved ones, who died, did not have a medical condition.

The article reports that Judith Hamilton, whose son died at the Pegasos suicide clinic stated that:

"It's like a business. If you have enough money, they offer you a service,”

The article reports on the death of Alistair Hamilton:

One notable case that received backlash involved Alastair Hamilton, a 47-year-old chemistry teacher with no serious or terminal illness. He traveled from London to end his life with Pegasos while his family believed he was going on a weekend vacation to Paris.

"He hugged me and said, 'I love you, Mum.' I didn't know it was his goodbye," his mother, Judith Hamilton, told RTS.

When Alastair stopped answering his phone and failed to return home, Judith reported him missing. She said she eventually found bank records that showed her son paid 12,000 Swiss francs (about $15,000) to Pegasos.

"It's like a business,” Judith claimed. “If you have enough money, they offer you a service.”

Pegasos was founded in 2019 and is available to adults over 18 who are of “sound mind” and have paid a fee. They offer assisted suicide “regardless of state of health,” which differs from other organizations that require patients to be terminally ill to end their lives.

To add to the grief, when Pegasus acknowledged Alistair's death they informed the family that his ashes were being sent in the mail. The article states:

Alastair’s brother Bradley told the outlet that they repeatedly emailed Pegasos after seeing the bank records but did not get a response. He alleged they were finally able to get a response from the clinic after involving the police and British embassy. At that point, Pegasos reportedly confirmed Alastair’s death and shared that his ashes would be sent to them in the mail.

A ITV news show found that Alastair admitted to Pegasus that he did not have a known medical condition but they assisted his suicide anyway:

Limited to 300 word answers, Alastair told them that his undiagnosed condition was causing him "pain, fatigue and discomfort" which had "devastated my life".

However, he admitted that "there is no current, definitive medical explanation" for his illness and that his family did not know he had decided to take his own life.

Despite that, Pegasos accepted his application and within several days of arriving in Switzerland he was helped to die.

Pegasos is not different than the other Swiss assisted suicide groups, they only appear more controversial because their business model is foreign suicides. Other Swiss suicide clinics, such as EXIT and Dignitas, that also focuses on foreign suicides, are also willing to kill people who are not dying.

The problem is assisted suicide. Allowing suicide businesses creates a profit for killing.

More articles:

• Euthanasia activist, Sean Davison arrested in death of a 79-year-old woman (Link). 
• A mother's warning about her son's death by assisted suicide in Switzerland (Link).