 The Swiss government accepts that helping someone to die who's suffering can be a merciful act. So long as Dignitas can prove that they're acting altruistically and that the patient swallowed the drug unneeded, they'll never be prosecuted. In June 1998, the first person to be helped to die was a 62-year-old Swiss father suffering from a degenerative brain disease. Afterwards, Ludwig didn't have any regrets.