[New regulation of patient advance directives : What are the consequences for the practice?].

The inclusion of patient advance directives in the German Civil Code by the legal institution represents on the one hand a partial regulation of the total complex"euthanasia". On the other hand this goes far beyond the target as this is not only valid for cases involving fatal diseases. The legislation has, however, still not clarified all questions in connection with euthanasia and advance directives. Many legal uncertainties remain and even the partial regulation itself contains substantial ambiguities and gaps. In the following article clearly answerable basic questions on euthanasia will be presented and the disputed problems and the content of the amendment will be discussed.