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A group of leading palliative medicine specialists, psychiatrists and oncologists at German clinics criticized the writer Ferdinand von Schirach for his play "Gott" in an open letter.
The people involved are a “caricature” and the facts presented do not correspond to the current scientific status, according to the letter from the 17 doctors, which appeared in the “FAZ” on Saturday.
Towards the end of the play it is not just about the question of a legal right to assisted suicide, but about the basic right to suicide.
However, this is hardly called into question in medicine.
The play “Gott” filmed by ARD is to be broadcast on Monday (November 23, 8:15 pm).
Especially in palliative medicine, people are granted the right to take their own lives, the letter says.
Acceptance is the working basis in suicide prevention in order to get into conversation with those affected.
The aim is to find ways out of the crisis together.
It is about a self-determined decision, which in individual cases can also end in suicide.
Usually, however, other solutions can be found.
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It is to be welcomed that von Schirach takes up the topic of assisted suicide.
It is also positive that with the protagonist Richard Gärtner a healthy and not a suffering old person was selected.
The extremely negative portrayal of the medical association representative, on the other hand, devalues the work of the numerous people who, as doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and pastors, deal with people at risk of suicide.
It is wrong to claim that German doctors are in favor of assisted suicide.
This was the result of three studies between 2009 and 2015.
Admission to assisted suicide will not reduce the death rate, write the doctors.
In the Netherlands, the approval even led to an increased suicide rate.
Such approval does not prevent a “hard suicide”, for example on train tracks, by firearms or jumping from a height.
The alternative to assisted suicide is not dying "drooling" and "hanging on tubes" in the hospital, it continues.
Every patient has the right to refuse life-sustaining measures and to receive treatment to reduce suffering in return.
This also includes stopping artificial feeding or ventilation.
Schirach's “God” does not provide sufficient information about such medical possibilities at the end of life.
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The scene in "Gott" is a fictional meeting of the German Ethics Council.
It is about the exemplary case of a healthy, old man willing to die.
The film provides information on the situation and a clarification of the term "assisted suicide" and presents different points of view. At the end of the debate, the audience is asked to vote on the following question: May a physically and mentally healthy, suicidal person receive a medication from a doctor that he can kill himself with?
If you yourself feel that you need help, please contact the telephone counseling immediately. On the toll-free number 0800-1110111 or 0800-1110222 you can get help from advisors who can show you ways out of difficult situations. The German Society for Suicide Prevention offers further help.