[Right_to_die] Scientific paper on the use of helium in self-deliverance

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American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology:
POST AUTHOR CORRECTIONS, 20 July 2010
doi: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181ed7a2d

Suicide By Asphyxiation Due to Helium Inhalation

Howard, Matthew O. PhD; Hall, Martin T. PhD; Edwards, Jeffrey D. MSW; 
Vaughn, Michael G. PhD; Perron, Brian E. PhD; Winecker, Ruth E. PhD


  Abstract:

Suicide by asphyxiation using helium is the most widely promoted method 
of "self-deliverance" by right-to-die advocates. However, little is 
known about persons committing such suicides or the circumstances and 
manner in which they are completed. Prior reports of suicides by 
asphyxiation involving helium were reviewed and deaths determined by the 
North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to be 
helium-associated asphyxial suicides occurring between January 1, 2000 
and December 31, 2008 were included in a new case series examined in 
this article. The 10 asphyxial suicides involving helium identified in 
North Carolina tended to occur almost exclusively in non-Hispanic, white 
men who were relatively young (M age = 41.1 +/- 11.6). In 6 of 10 cases, 
decedents suffered from significant psychiatric dysfunction; in 3 of 
these 6 cases, psychiatric disorders were present comorbidly with 
substance abuse. In none these cases were decedents suffering from 
terminal illness. Most persons committing suicide with helium were free 
of terminal illness but suffered from psychiatric and/or substance use 
disorders.

http://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/toc/publishahead

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