Irish Woman Dies in Swiss Assisted Suicide Clinic: Family Informed by WhatsApp

05.08.2025

The family of Maureen Slough, a 58‑year‑old woman from Cavan with a long-standing history of mental illness, say they learned of her death through a WhatsApp message—not from the Swiss clinic that performed assisted suicide. According to the Irish Independent, they were later informed that her ashes would be posted to her daughter. The family say they had no idea Maureen was planning to end her life at the Pegasos Swiss Association facility and were not contacted beforehand.

Pegasos, a Basel‑based assisted‑suicide organisation founded in 2019, has attracted scrutiny, particularly in cases involving mental‑health conditions. Pegasos reportedly requires minimal documentation in medically complex cases unless deemed necessary.

According to the family, they believe the clinic failed in its duty to include them in the process. The clinic, by contrast, claims to have obtained permission from the daughter via email—permission the family say they never knowingly gave.

This case echoes prior controversies surrounding Pegasos, including criticism over a UK citizen who died there in 2024. That incident prompted questions about family notification and informed consent.

This tragedy raises deep concerns about the direction of legalised assisted suicide. When organisations can facilitate death without informing or involving close family members, it highlights a disturbing erosion of safeguards. We do not know where Maureen’s family stood on the issue, but in any humane society, families should not be excluded from decisions of life and death. It should never be acceptable to bypass the very people who might offer support, love, or alternative medical paths that help a person choose life instead of ending it.