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National legislation, as well as arguments of experts, in Germany and Israel represent opposite regulatory approaches and positions in bioethical debates concerning end-of-life care. This study analyzes how these positions are mirrored in the attitudes of laypeople and influenced by the religious views and personal experiences of those affected. We qualitatively analyzed eight focus groups in Germany and Israel in which laypeople (religious, secular, affected, and non-affected) were asked to discuss similar scenarios involving the withholding or withdrawing of treatment, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia. In both countries, respect for patient autonomy and patients' wishes to die with dignity found broad consent. Laypeople argued in favor of accepting such wishes when they were put down in an advance directive. Laypeople in non-religious groups in both countries argued on the basis of a respect for autonomy for the possibility of euthanasia in severe cases but, at the same time, cautioned against its possible misuse. National contrast was apparent in the moral reasoning of lay respondents concerning the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment. The modern religious laypeople in Israel, especially, argued strongly, on the basis of the halakhic tradition, against allowing the withdrawal of treatment in accord with a patient's wish. We conclude by discussing the emergent notion of shared responsibility and views of professional responsibility, which we connect through relevant cultural themes such as religion and national culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Against the backdrop of controversial bioethical and public health debates on the role of age in decisions on healthcare allocation, we examine the perspectives of European lay persons on ethical implications of age and aging for medicine and health care. Subject and methods: The study uses a qualitative approach based on the content analysis of 29 focus group discussions (235 participants) held in 4 European countries (Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) between 2005 and 2012. Results: While lay persons unanimously reject chronological age as a criterion for resource allocation, they acknowledge that age can be an important factor in ethical decision-making processes in many different ways. In the discussions, they articulate biographical concepts and viewpoints (such as age roles, ideas of the course and prime of life, responsibilities between generations), framing questions of resource allocation with regard to a teleological perspective of a good life. Conclusion: Participants introduce a biographical outlook on medical decision making while at the same time articulating different conceptions of aging and the life course. Public health ethics needs to find ways to incorporate this plurality of temporal perspectives on the good life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is an ongoing expert debate with regard to financial incentives in order to increase organ supply. However, there is a lacuna of empirical studies on whether citizens would actually support financial incentives for organ donation., Methods: Between October 2008 and February 2009 a quantitative survey was conducted among German students of medicine and economics to gain insights into their point of view regarding living and deceased organ donation and different forms of commercialization (n = 755)., Results: The average (passive) willingness to donate is 63.5% among medical students and 50.0% among students of economics (p = 0.001), while only 24.1% of the respondents were actually holding an organ donor card. 11.3% of students of economics had signed a donor card, however, the number is significantly higher among students of medicine (31.9%, p < 0.001). Women held donor cards significantly more often (28.6%) than men (19.4%, p = 0.004). The majority of students were against direct payments as incentives for deceased and living donations. Nevertheless, 37.5% of the respondents support the idea that the funeral expenses of deceased organ donors should be covered. Women voted significantly less often for the coverage of expenses than men (women 31.6%, men 44.0%, p = 0.003). The number of those in favor of allowing to sell one's organs for money (living organ donation) was highest among students of economics (p = 0.034)., Conclusion: Despite a generally positive view on organ donation the respondents refuse to consent to commercialization, but are in favor of removing disincentives or are in favor of indirect models of reward.