title: [Assisted dying in Germany: possibilities and where to draw the line--the legal view].
abstract: In Germany, the legal possibilities for withholding or withdrawing life-preserving measures are based on four judgments by the Federal High Court, which forbid both the deliberate killing of a patient and physician-assisted suicide. Life-saving measures may be withheld or withdrawn only when this is in conformity with the declared will of the patient (as expressed, for example, in a living will, or by the patient's proxy), and when death is to be expected within the near future. If the process of dying has already begun, such a decision may be taken even when the expressed will of the patient is not known.
authors.affiliation: Vorsitzender Richter am Bundesgerichtshof a. D, Karlsbad. klaus.kutzer@web.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kutzer
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011057:Politics; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*