Cancer doctor wrote farewell letters before her death

The cancer doctor Mechthild Bach wrote enamel farewell letters before her suicide. The prosecution confirmed after an autopsy as a trigger for death overdosed painkillers

26/01/2011

The accused cancer doctor Mechthild Bach has taken the first autopsy results with an overdose of morphine killed the life. That informed today the public prosecutor's office in Hildesheim. Due to the suicide of the accused, one of the largest euthanasia processes in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany must be declared to be over without a conclusive conclusion. The doctor had committed a suicide with high-dose painkillers during the night from Sunday to Monday.

According to the public prosecutor Hildesheim, the physician Mechthild Bach had administered an overdose of morphine according to the autopsy report. Already on Tuesday, the investigations were initiated and the results released today by the investigative authorities. According to a speaker, death was triggered by pulmonary edema and brain swelling. Both results speak for a serious poisoning of the body. The 61-year-old doctor had laid the morphine infusion on Monday night. A foreign influence is excluded due to found electronic farewell letters.

Last farewell letters in the form of emails
In a review of the latest email correspondence, the prosecutor's investigators discovered that the cancer specialist was likely to commit suicide on the impending trial. Thus, a spokesman stated that the motive was therefore the pending lawsuit against the accused Mrs. Dr. med. Bach. The court had suggested a good week ago that the charge of manslaughter could also be converted to murder. According to this, Dr. Bach had to expect a much more serious condemnation.

The euthanasia process has been taking place in Hannover for over a year now. The doctor, an advocate of active euthanasia, had to answer the charges on suspicion of manslaughter in 13 cases. In all three cases, the deceased in a clinic in the Hanover region presumed to have administered medication cocktail of strong analgesics such as valium and morphine to seriously ill patients. It is still unclear whether other people died by an administered infusion. Since 1987, the cancer specialist was employed at the Paracelsus Clinic as a paralegal physician of the cancer department. For several years, an increased mortality rate was observed in the hospital. Whether Mechthild Bach is also responsible for this can probably no longer be fully clarified after the death of the defendants. The discussion about active euthanasia will not end with the tragic end of the process. According to a survey of medical professionals, every third doctor could imagine helping seriously ill patients to commit suicide. (Sb)

Read on the topic:
Euthanasia process: Mechthild Bach commits suicide
Palliative medicine: doctors decide on death
Every third doctor is open to euthanasia

Image: D. Braun