Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
[Intention to kill--the deciding criterion between allowed and prohibited assisted euthanasia].
The difference between the allowed and forbidden euthanasia is--on account of the dominant opinion--the criterion of acting and forbearance. It is not punishable to let a terminally ill patient die, but it is punishable to kill a patient on purpose. ⋯ Then the euthanasia is a punishable act if the actor or the person, who forbears, practices euthanasia with the intention to kill the patient. The euthanasia is not punishable, however, if the euthanasia overwhelms the blockade of dying or softens the pains.
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We mostly deal here with socio-medical aspects of vaccinations. Various initiatives are summed up that are intended to optimize the system of immunization by vaccines and to establish certain innovative, and also internationally remarkable approaches. In spite of the undoubted successes of vaccinations in Austria, there still are some major deficits that should be eliminated. ⋯ It must not be denied, however, that the system of medical care too has not always responded in an optimal way. As a consequence, public health research has been done on background-morbidity which is absolutely essential for scientific discussion. The name of the study, SERMO, is an abbreviation of the term "self-reported-morbidity"; another source for this name is the latin expression "sermo, sermonis".