Cardiac drugs
This Chapter discusses a range of drugs that are known to bring about a reliable death through cardiac arrest (heart attack).
These drugs cause death via Ischaemic hypoxia which occurs when the ability of the heart to pump oxygenated blood around the body is interrupted.
When the mechanism controlling the regular contraction of the heart muscle is disturbed, insufficient oxygen will reach the brain. This lack of oxygen brings about death.
While taking a drug to cause cardiac arrest is a reliable way of ending life, it is not peaceful.
This is why supplementary sedatives are needed.
These other drugs will ensure that the person loses consciousness before the cardiac arrest.
These drugs are discussed in detail in the Chapter titled ‘Supplementary Drugs’.
Cardiac Switch?
The term ‘Cardiac Switch’ is used to describe drugs that have the specific goal of causing death by stopping the heart.
All of the drugs described in this Chapter can be considered as ‘cardiac switches’. All require additional sedation.
Cardiac-switch/ sedative drug combinations have been developed in the US as part of on-going research into alternative lethal drug mixtures (given the exorbitant cost of Nembutal in this country).
This research has been undertaken in the context of US medical aid in dying laws. The lethal drug mix DDMAPh is the most effective.
The DDMAPh mix has been found to provide as peaceful and reliable a death as Nembutal.
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