Foreign assisted suicide cases in Switzerland double in 4 years...

The number of foreigners travelling to Switzerland to commit assisted suicide doubled over a four-year period, a study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics said on Thursday.

In 2012, 172 foreigners took their lives in Switzerland, which has liberal euthanasia rules, up from 86 in 2009, with citizens from Germany and Britain making up almost two-thirds of the total, the study found.

Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since the 1940s, if performed by someone with no direct interest in the death.

"Mercy killing" is also legal in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and some U.S. states but remains illegal in many countries, pushing some terminally ill people in those coutries to travel abroad where they can be helped to die without fear of their loved ones, or doctors, being prosecuted.

Courts in Britain, France and the European Court of Human Rights have been struggling with the delicate issue in recent months. Full story...

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