Suicide Bag - Medical Literature

Medical Literature

Suicides using this method are well documented in the literature. In the study Asphyxial suicide with helium and a plastic bag (Ogden et al.), the authors described a case involving a 60-year-old woman with a diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma. The woman died in September 2000, in South Carolina with help of a suicide bag and helium.

Cases using suicide bags and gases other than noble gases are recorded, such as a propane-butane mixture, and methane (natural gas).

A 2010 study in the Journal of Medical Ethics found that helium in a bag or hood caused death in a quick and painless manner, and could play a role in "demedicalising assisted suicide". A 2011 study found that in recent years information about suicide with helium and a bag has spread rapidly on the Internet, in print, and on video.