Administered Anesthetic to Alleviate End-of-Life Pain... "Guilty of Murder"

Doctor: "I Tried to Reduce Unnecessary Pain and Fear"
Court: "Even Dying People Can Be Murdered"

A German doctor who administered anesthetics to alleviate the suffering of critically ill patients nearing death was convicted of murder. However, the court applied the lesser charge of negligent homicide.

On the 27th (local time), local media including rbb reported that the Berlin District Court sentenced cardiologist Gunter S (56), who was charged with murder, to four years in prison the previous day.

While working at Charit? Hospital, Germany's largest university hospital in Berlin, Gunter S administered an excessive amount of propofol to two critically ill patients aged 73 in November 2021 and July 2022, resulting in their deaths.

The photo is not directly related to the content of the article. [Image source: Pixabay]

He was dismissed in August 2022 following an internal whistleblower report by medical staff and was arrested by prosecutors the following year. The prosecution requested the court to impose a life sentence and a lifetime ban on medical practice, claiming he maliciously killed the patients.

Gunter S argued that he had no intention to kill the patients. He claimed his actions were meant to reduce unnecessary suffering and fear of death for patients already in the dying process.

However, the court ruled that "a dying person can also be murdered," determining that there was intent to kill rather than merely alleviate pain, and found him guilty. The court cited the administration of a lethal dose of anesthetics as evidence.

Nevertheless, the court judged that the act was not malicious or premeditated murder and applied the charge of negligent homicide instead of the premeditated murder charge requested by the prosecution. The court stated, "There is much evidence showing that the defendant was a doctor who sincerely cared for his patients," and "There was no attitude of disregarding life."

Under German criminal law, murder charges are divided into premeditated murder and negligent homicide based on motive, means, and planning, similar to the degrees of murder in the United States. Premeditated and malicious murder is classified as premeditated murder, while accidental or other cases are punished as negligent homicide.