ATTITUDES AND ACCEPTANCE TOWARD THE TECHNOLOGY OF CRYONICS IN GERMANY.

Objectives: This study explores the awareness and the degree of acceptance of the idea of the medical technology cryonics-the freezing of a corpse to revive it in the future-among German citizens. Methods: Data were collected on the basis of a representatively weighted online survey of 1,000 people aged between 16 and 69 years and resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. Results: Forty-seven percent stated that they had already heard of cryonics; 22 percent could imagine having their bodies cryonized after their deaths. For 53 percent, participation in the latest technological developments which correlated with the approval of the conceivability of cryopreservation was important. The majority of the respondents were not skeptical or cautious about innovations in the medical field. Conclusions: The study shows that cryonics is known and accepted to a certain extent. However, a large proportion of respondents did not believe that it was desirable to use medical technology to overcome death, and fundamentally rejected a post-mortal continuation of life.

[A debate of the legal regulation of organ transplantation in West and East Germany (1960 - 1989). A comparative study]. / Der Diskurs über die rechtliche Regelung der Organtransplantation in West- und Ostdeutschland (1960-1989). Eine vergleichende Studie.

The debate on the legal frameworks of organ transplantation in Germany began in the 1960s with the upcoming of new medical treatments. Since there were two German States at that time, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the process of the discussion on the way to legislation took place under two very different circumstances. In 1975 the GDR implemented a decree regarding the legal aspects of organ transplantation. Meanwhile the discussion in the FRG proceeded with no result until 1997. The analysis of articles in German medical and juridical journals in the period 1960-1989 showed that the discussion in the GDR was less intensive than in the FRG and nearly stopped after the decree from 1975. The majority of the East-German authors preferred an arrangement that will keep the next of kin of a deceased person out of the process of organ transplantation. They argued for the so-called "Widerspruchslösung" (dissent solution): During his lifetime, the donor must have denied organ removal after his death; otherwise organ explantation will be performed. The law of 1975 was consistent with this preference. In West-Germany the motifs concerning the legal aspects of organ transplantation changed over the time. The discussion started with the same arguments that were used in East-Germany. The physicians wished some kind of "Widerspruchslösung" manifested by a draft law, but their requests changed over time. In the early 1980s, most of the West-German authors pleaded for what had become the code of practice because no bill was passed by the politicians: the "Zustimmungslösung" (consent solution). The physician was obliged to ask the next of kin if there was any statement of the potential donor towards organ donation. Some authors even considered a bill unnecessary, as the system organ transplantation in West-Germany was working well without it. A massive change in the West-German medical society from fighting for a "Widerspruchslösung" to acceptance of a "Zustimmungslösung" or even no legal frame at all was observed.

[National socialism health policy and the Aachen region reflected in the "West German Observer"]. / Nationalsozialistische Gesundheitspolitik und die Region Aachen im Spiegel des "Westdeutschen Beobachters".

The article deals with the question of medicine in the time of the Nazi regime in Germany. It focuses on the question how the media in the "Third Reich" took up the subject "medicine" in general and which aspects were notably mentioned. The footing of this research is the "Westdeutscher Beobachter" and its local edition for the region and the city of Aachen. It was a newspaper published by the regional division of the NSDAP, hence a direct repetition of the Nazi ideology can be expected. During the research it became clear that medicine was not an important subject of propaganda in this newspaper. Only a few articles were about classic Nazi medical topics like "Erbgesundheit" (racial hygiene) and even less about naturopathy. The frequency of articles containing medical issues was very inconsistent, but only in 1934 there was a mentionable number of articles mostly concerning "Erbgesundheit". In this year the racial hygiene poured in law. The main consequence was the forced sterilization of over 300,000 people. Furthermore the topic "medicine" in general seems to be a marginal factor. More popular topics like economic or foreign policy dominated the report of the "Westdeutscher Beobachter". It seems to be that the emphasis was deliberately not laid on the matter "medicine" especially eugenics--which was one of the main components of the Nazi ideology--because the regime didn't want it to become a public interest.