[Illegal professional conflict of interest from the viewpoint of the attorney]

Since the so called "heart-valve scandal" occurred in Germany, the practice of financially or otherwise supported hospitals and practicing doctors has to be critically re-examined and may be changed. The practice and acceptance of support is common in many areas of our daily life, however, due to governmental social laws regulating the flow of money and due to the various financial forms of support for the health care system, criminal violations and sanctions may arise. Aside from the existing standard criminal violations, a new law, as of has been enacted August 13, 1997-this law specifically deals with bribery and the acceptance of such illegal payments. Proving that such a criminal violation was committed by a physician can be very difficult for the prosecutor. The mass of procedural laws--aside from the substantive law requirements--cause problems for the state. It is also very difficult to determine the exact amount of damages or that a physician has gained an illegal advantage. In these specific and other general cases, a professional defense by a competent attorney is absolutely essential to prevent an unpleasant suit or to resolve charges outside of court. In some cases, it may even be possible to persuade the prosecutor to only levy a fine, if it is not possible to persuade him to drop the charges all together--for lack of good evidence.