On February 2, 2007, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled that people with serious mental illnesses may be permitted to commit physician assisted suicide under certain conditions. The decision recognized "that an incurable, permanent, serious mental disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical [disorder]" and extended Switzerland's physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill for such patients. The extension required those suffering from serious mental illnesses to demonstrate that the desire is not the "expression of a curable, psychiatric disorder" but a "well-considered and permanent decision" based on rational judgment.


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