Decision on triage appeal expected on November 4th

Karlsruhe. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe will publish its decision on a complaint against the federal Infection Protection Act (IfSG) on November 4, according to its own statement. The complaint, supported by the Marburger Bund physicians' association, was filed in December 2023 by 14 intensive care and emergency medicine specialists .

The lawsuit is directed, among other things, against the so-called triage rule contained in the law in the event of shortages in the care of seriously ill patients. It was argued at the time that this would force doctors to make difficult decisions that contradict their professional ethics and place them in a blatant moral dilemma. (1 BvR 2284/23, 1 BvR 2285/23)

Triage means that, in the event of a pandemic with too few beds or ventilators, doctors determine an order in which patients are treated first.

Furthermore, the ban on so-called ex-post triage is being criticized. This ban stipulates that a decision regarding a patient's treatment cannot be reversed if a patient with a better chance of survival is admitted at a later time. The Marburger Bund, a German physicians' association, sees this as a conflict with professional ethics: doctors are being deprived of the opportunity to save the greatest number of lives in an emergency situation. (dpa)