The German Federal Court of Justice overturns the conviction of a chief doctor from Essen for causing the death of a coronary patient.
He recklessly led to her instant demise in the first incident. Reports suggest that he administered a fatal mix of medications to a 47-year-old in November 2020, allegedly to "liberate" him. However, neither the patient nor their family requested euthanasia, the local court ruled. The court categorized this as unintentional homicide in its November 2021 judgment.
The local court handed down a three and a half-year sentence. However, the Highest Federal Court recently overturned this decision. It argued that there wasn't sufficient proof to establish a direct link between the drug administration and the patient's death, absent any legal oversight. The local court must now re-examine this case.
In the second incident, from November 2020, involving the same doctor but different victims who were severely ill with COVID-19, the doctor is accused of taking their lives using a mix of diverse drugs. The acts were considered attempted unintentional homicide as the two victims were on the brink of death when the actions were taken. In June 2022, the local court imposed another three and a half-year sentence on the doctor. This judgment stands, as the Highest Federal Court has confirmed that it found no legal infractions harmful to the defendant.
The recent overturning by the Highest Federal Court could potentially lead to charges of ['Murder by manslaughter'] due to the lack of proof linking the drug administration to the patient's death. In the second incident, if proven beyond reasonable doubt, the doctor's actions could be upgraded from ['attempted unintentional homicide'] to ['actual manslaughter'] or even ['murder'].
