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Mentally Ill have a Right to Assisted Suicide ~ Swiss High Court

A ruling in Switzerland`s Supreme Court allows those who suffer of mental illness to end their life with the assistance of doctors. The court ruling, Friday, stated that: "It must be recognized that an incurable, permanent, serious mental disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical (disorder), making life appear unbearable to the patient in the long term."

The Swiss law is considered liberal in respect to euthanasia, and allows terminal patients to attain medical assistance to end their lives in certain cases. The new court ruling places mental illness in the same category as physical illness. "If the death wish is based on an autonomous decision which takes all circumstances into account, then a mentally ill person can be prescribed sodium-pentobarbital and thereby assisted in suicide," the ruling said.

The judges said that several criteria must be verified before a request is found just. "A distinction has to be made between a death wish which is an expression of a curable, psychiatric disorder and which requires treatment, and (a death wish) which is based on a person of sound judgment`s own well-considered and permanent decision, which must be respected," they said. The case was brought to court due to a case of a 53-year-old man, who suffers of bi-polar disorder, and requested authorization to receive deadly medication without prescription. The judges rejected the request and stated the patient must first undergo comprehensive medical testing to determine his condition.