Status: 02/02/2022 6:38 p.m
Seriously ill patients who wish to die have no right to a lethal drug. That was decided by the Higher Administrative Court in Münster. The plaintiffs now want to go before the Federal Administrative Court.
According to a ruling by the Münster Higher Administrative Court, the state can still not be obliged to provide seriously ill people with access to a means of suicide. Currently, the legal regulations do not allow this. The judges dismissed the complaint of three patients. (AZ: 9A 146/21, 9A 147/21, 9A 148/21)
Federal institute refused
Two years ago, the Federal Constitutional Court lifted the ban on commercial euthanasia. So far, however, access to narcotics for people who wish to die has not been newly regulated.
The two plaintiffs and one plaintiff, who suffer from multiple sclerosis and cancer, requested permission from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in Bonn to purchase the narcotic sodium pentobarbital in order to kill themselves. They referred to their constitutionally guaranteed personality rights, which also included a right to self-determined death. The Federal Institute had rejected this.
The court sees no interference
According to the Higher Administrative Court, the purchase of sodium pentobarbital in a lethal dose is opposed to the Narcotics Act. Judge Gudrun Dahme explained that it was doubtful whether this general ban contained in the Narcotics Act was compatible with the Basic Law.
In the opinion of the Higher Administrative Court, however, such a ban is not a disproportionate encroachment on the right to self-determination. Physicians could also prescribe appropriate medication after appropriate amendment of the professional regulations.
Revision was allowed
With its verdict, the Higher Administrative Court in Münster confirmed a decision by the Cologne Administrative Court. Since the drug authority is based in Bonn, the plaintiffs initially complained in Cologne in 2020 that they should be allowed to buy a deadly drug. But the administrative court refused.
The Senate in Münster allowed the appeal to the Federal Administrative Court because of the fundamental importance. The plaintiff’s lawyer had already announced before the hearing that he intended to exhaust all legal remedies.
Patient advocates welcome verdict
The German Foundation for Patient Protection stated that it was good that the legislature could not be forced to relax the clear ban on the sale of killing drugs. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices is therefore not obliged to approve the issue of suicide preparations, said CEO Eugen Brysch of the epd news agency.
In February 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court lifted the ban on “commercial promotion of suicide”. The Karlsruhe judges justified the decision with the right to self-determination. The right to a self-determined death therefore also includes possible help from third parties.