[Legal issues of physician-assisted euthanasia. Part II--Help in the dying process, direct and indirect active euthanasia].
[Article in German]
Abstract
In Germany, physician-assisted euthanasia involves numerous risks for the attending physician under criminal and professional law. In the absence of clear legal provisions, four different categories of euthanasia have been developed in legal practice and the relevant literature: help in the dying process, direct active euthanasia, indirect active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. The so-called "help during the dying process" by administering medically indicated analgesic drugs without a life-shortening effect is exempt from punishment if it corresponds to the will of the patient. If the physician omits to give such analgesic drugs although the patient demands them, this is deemed a punishable act of bodily injury. The same applies if the physician administers analgesics against the will of the patient. Medically indicated pain treatment which has a potential or certain life-shortening effect (indirect active euthanasia) is permitted under certain conditions: if there are no alternative and equally suitable treatment options without the risk of shortening the patient's life, if the patient has given his consent to the treatment and if the physician does not act with the intention to kill.
The deliberate killing of a dying or terminally ill patient for the purpose of ending his suffering (direct active euthanasia) is prohibited. This includes both deliberately killing a patient against or without his will (by so-called "angels of death") and the killing of a patient who expressly and earnestly demands such an act from his physician (killing on request/on demand). Physician-assisted suicide is generally not liable to punishment in Germany. Nevertheless, the action may be subject to punishment if the physician omits to rescue the life of an unconscious suicide victim. "Palliative sedation" is regarded as a special case. It may become necessary if certain symptoms in the terminal stage of a fatal disease unbearable for the patient cannot be controlled by any other means. The legal assessment of "palliative sedation" depends on the circumstances of the individual case, in particular the "informed consent" of the patient and the physician's intention.
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