Doctor in Schleswig-Holstein: Determined because of alleged patient killings!

Doctor in Schleswig-Holstein: Determined because of alleged patient killings!

In northern Germany, a doctor is currently being investigated who is suspected of having killed several lifelong patients. The police and the public prosecutor's office in Itzehoe announced the investigation on July 8, 2025, and a special commission was launched to get to the bottom of the matter. The suspect comes from the Pinneberg district. For reasons of investigation, one is currently holding back with precise information on the number of suspected cases, but the investigators emphasize that the presumption of innocence applies and that they could only work on the initial suspicion. According to German law, this is the weakest suspicion level that enables an introduction to investigations.

Some autopsy and exhumation have already been carried out, and past deaths are currently being critically checked. However, the investigation and the necessary forensic medical examinations could take several weeks. The suspicion raises fundamental questions about ethical standards and responsibility in medical practice, as other cases show in the past.

similar cases and their backgrounds

A remarkable case that has caused a lot of attention in recent years is that of a Berlin palliative doctor. The public prosecutor there has now exhumed ten corpses during an intensive investigation on suspicion of the killing of several seriously ill patients. It originally looked as if the suspect had killed four women between 72 and 94 years. In the meantime, the authority is based on at least eight victims. The doctor who treated patients at a time when they were not in acute dying phase has been in custody since August. In addition, the public prosecutor's office highlights that the suspect allegedly administered a "mixture of different drugs", with "lust for murder" being a motif in the room. This situation is particularly dramatic because the investigation by fires that the doctor put was triggered to cover up his actions.

Similar problematic relationships were also discussed in the academic examination of homicide by doctors. Examples from the past, such as the arrest of four nurses in Vienna in 1989 and the case of the British doctor Harold Shipman, show that doctors are often in a position to take advantage of their privileged position to commit crimes. Shipman, who committed countless patients, exemplifies a human abysses that are often overlooked. Such offenses make a light on how important the review of treatment methods and mortality is in medical care.

responsibility and ethical standards

The public's trust in medical staff is essential, but such shattering incidents could undermine this trust. German society faces the challenge of how to deal with such acts and how to improve the system of medical control and ethical standards in order to prevent similar crimes. The social and legal consequences are therefore being pursued, both for the North German doctor and for the Berlin palliative doctor, whose case shows that the abysses of humanity are sometimes exactly where we expect it least.

Further information on these investigations is expected to be provided in the coming weeks. Until then, it only remains to be seen how the judiciary deals with these alarming suspicions and what consequences result in the health system.