Organ donation and brain preservation after assisted dying: case report and considerations for a potential pathway

German A, Grotemeyer A, Koller K, Eckstein M, Wolff H, Rampp S, Süß P, Müller VC, Birnbacher D, Winkler J, Regensburger M (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

BMC Medical Ethics BioMed Central

Book Volume: 27

Article Number: 186

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1186/s12910-026-01586-1

Abstract

Protecting life and restoring health have been at the core of the conception of medical care since antiquity, for health professionals and the public alike. Assisted dying represents a practice that appears to challenge this traditional conception. In jurisdictions where assisted dying is condoned, the question remains as to whether the practice should be medicalized or deferred to non-medical actors. Irrespective of the divisive controversy surrounding assisted dying and its medicalization per se, the practice gives rise to high-stakes ethical, legal and organizational challenges when intersecting with organ transplantation, tissue banking, and Structural Brain Preservation or cryonics. In this narrative account, we describe the contextual framework and outline our experience and operational scope for addressing them at a university hospital in Germany. Based on this description we propose a structured pathway for increasing donation and preservation options for terminal patients while retaining ethical integrity and professional accountability.

Authors with CRIS profile

Alexander German Department of Molecular Neurology Katharina Koller Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Markus Eckstein Institute of Pathology Stefan Rampp Department of Neurosurgery Patrick Süß Department of Molecular Neurology Vincent Cornelius Müller Lehrstuhl für Theory and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur) Jürgen Winkler Professur für Molekulare Neurologie Martin Regensburger Department of Molecular Neurology

Involved external institutions

Klinikum Nürnberg DE Germany (DE) Bundesverfassungsgericht DE Germany (DE) Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

German, A., Grotemeyer, A., Koller, K., Eckstein, M., Wolff, H., Rampp, S.,... Regensburger, M. (2026). Organ donation and brain preservation after assisted dying: case report and considerations for a potential pathway. BMC Medical Ethics, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-026-01586-1

MLA:

German, Alexander, et al. "Organ donation and brain preservation after assisted dying: case report and considerations for a potential pathway." BMC Medical Ethics 27.1 (2026).

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