May 12, 2010: In a radio debate with German Emergency Head Dr Michael de Ridder (see news item on April 15, 2010 on this site) on the occasion of the appearance of De Ridder's  book, Dr Hoppe, President of the Deutsche Ärztekammer (the National Doctors Organisation) , made a sensational statement taking a more relaxed position on physician-assisted suicide than he has conveyed in the past.

April 15, 2010: Dr Michael de Ridder, head of the Emergency Departement of a central Berlin Hospital, gave an interview to Der Spiegel (Beate Lakotta), after the publication of his book "Wie Wollen wir Sterben?"

On June 2nd the National Ethics Committee published a position paper offering a compromise in the present debate. They recommended that the legislature should provide that living wills be binding on doctors and medical staff.