Exit International was founded by Philip Nitschke in 1997 after the over-turning of the world's first Voluntary Euthanasia law—the Rights of the Terminally Ill (ROTI) Act enacted in the Northern Territory, Australia.

[8] In 2017, Philip Nitschke announced that Exit International had created a smartphone app that connects to a SCiO infrared spectrometer to allow testing of the purity of Nembutal.

[10] On September 30, 2024 Exit International's Haarlem offices were raided by Dutch police, in connection with an investigation by Swiss authorities after Nitschke's Sarco Pod was used for the first time.

Rather than hope that politicians might take pity and change the law, Exit Action would launch online buyers' clubs for euthanasia drugs, regardless of legislation or permission from the medical profession.

[12] Nitschke stated "Exit Action believes that a peaceful death, and access to the best euthanasia drugs, is a right of all competent adults, regardless of sickness or permission from the medical profession.