[Palliative medicine--physician's responsibility]

When caring for patients with an incurable progressive disease, the physician experiences a feeling of powerlessness because there is no curative treatment that he can offer. The reaction to this must not be resignation, but active palliative medicine to achieve the best possible quality of life for the remaining time. Palliative medicine is a holistic concept of treatment in an outpatient or inpatient setting, integrating physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects. Palliative medicine started in Germany in the 1980s with a manifest delay compared to Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries and developed in the 90s with a growing dynamic. Even so, we are still a long way from a satisfactory situation in the field of palliative medicine in Germany. This is true for the practical implementation of palliative medicine in the outpatient or inpatient setting, for the training of physicians and nurses and for teaching and research at universities. The decision-makers in our health care system are called upon to support palliative medicine and ensure access to palliative care all over the country. Palliative medicine was started to ease suffering, preserve or restore autonomy and maintain dignity. As an active life aid it is, in our opinion, an alternative to any demand for euthanasia.