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In May 2011, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the California home of Sharlotte Hydorn, 92, who sold $60 suicide kits under brand GLADD (“Glorious Life And Dignified Death”).

The “helium hoods” included a bag to cover the head and a tube to connect to a tank of inert gas, which is thought to minimize the distress of asphyxiation.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or A Canadian woman bought a suicide kit. Now, after, a three-year legal battle she's getting answers on why the OPP dragged her to the hospital Back to video

Among Ms. Hydorn’s records was an order, as yet unfilled, from a Toronto woman, Clare Endicott, now nearly 80. She has a neurodegenerative disease and was preparing for a possible future suicide.

What followed led to complaints of privacy violations and intimidation by two police forces, a tense standoff at a lakeside cabin, and a three-year legal saga that has just been resolved by Ontario’s highest court, in a ruling that strengthens the right of citizens to complain about police.

In California, Ms. Hydorn eventually agreed to a plea deal on tax offences.