Revision of the medical malpractice law--legal aspects

Since the beginning of this century, modifications of the criminal law regarding medicine have been outlined frequently. The focus of these modifications was to eliminate the circumstance that each medical procedure is a criminal offense even if it was performed correctly and was successful. Treatment without consent was supposed to be punished. The draft recently submitted to the ministry of justice seems to be a failure. The prerequisites of an effective consent remain unclear. An incorrect information of the patient would be classified as intent and, thus, be punishable. By application of uncertain criteria, medical experiments and treatment procedures might be followed by excessive punishment.