Overview

• The Bundesgerichtshof (BGH), Germany's highest criminal court, dismissed the doctor’s appeal, making the conviction and sentence final.
• The doctor was convicted of manslaughter in February 2024 for assisting in the suicide of a 42-year-old man suffering from severe mental illness.
• The patient, who had paranoid schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions, was deemed unable to fully understand or consent to his actions.
• The court acknowledged the doctor’s compassionate intent to alleviate the patient’s suffering but ruled the act unlawful under German law.
• The doctor is set to begin serving his three-year prison sentence following the completion of procedural formalities.