Facts
The appellant, a doctor, had filed an appeal against the ban on prescribing sodium pentobarbital in the context of assisted suicide for mentally ill terminally ill patients. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich had lifted the ban and replaced it with a new one, which ordered the appellant not to prescribe sodium pentobarbital in the context of assisted suicide for mentally ill terminally ill patients.
The appellant lodged an appeal with the FSCA and requested the annulment of the judgment of the Administrative Court. However, during the proceedings, the appellant gave up his medical practice and received a so-called senior permit, which allowed him to treat only close relatives and acquaintances.
The FSCA ruled that the appeal had become moot, as the ban no longer had any practical significance, since the appellant was no longer able to provide assisted suicide.
Considerations
The FSCA based its decision on the fact that the ban on prescribing sodium pentobarbital in the context of assisted suicide for mentally ill terminally ill patients no longer had any practical significance, since the appellant was no longer able to provide assisted suicide. The appellant had indeed given up his medical practice and received a senior permit, which only allowed him to treat close relatives and acquaintances.
The court stated that the appeal could no longer be maintained, as the appellant was no longer in a position to circumvent the ban. It was also not…