It was to be expected that sodium nitrite would attract the interest of medical and academic researchers. By 2020, scholarly articles began appearing in a range of medical journals on this ‘new method of suicide’. However, the analytical paradigm of all these articles is suicide prevention. The anti-choice theme of the NTvG merely echoed the dominant paradigm of the ever- increasing number of medical articles on sodium nitrite.
The use of sodium nitrite in elective, self-compassionate death has grown markedly since it was first included in the Peaceful Pill eHandbook in 2017. This use is the result of several factors: its simplicity, legality and availability. A further reason for the rise in use has been its role as a ‘fall-back’ when Nembutal is not available. As Nembutal has become more difficult to obtain (because of increased international police surveillance and pandemic-related restrictions on international travel), it is to be expected that viable alternatives have been sought.