Prosecution can occur if doubts are raised about the patient's competence to make an autonomous choice, or about the motivation of anyone involved in assisting the suicide.
In November 2006, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rejected a complaint against the canton of Zurich‘s health department, which was filed on behalf of a man who suffered from bipolar disorder and desired to be issued pentobarbital by the state in order to end his life.
The court advanced that no case can be made that the state has any obligation to facilitate the availability of substances used for euthanasia, as had been argued by the plaintiff based on both the Swiss Federal Constitution and on article 8 of the ECHR.
[9] In a referendum on 15 May 2011, voters in the canton of Zurich overwhelmingly rejected calls to ban assisted suicide or to outlaw the practice for non-residents.
[10][11][12][13] In a 2007 essay in the Hastings Center Report, bioethicist Jacob M. Appel advocated adopting similar rules in the United States.
[14] In July 2009, British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic outside Zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing."