[Report on the patient forum on medical ethics. "Curse and blessing of knowledge of disease"].

: From July 15th to July 16th the Protestant Academy of Tutzing opened its doors for the fourth time to the public for a discussion between medical doctors, patients, relatives, nurses and pastors on the new developments of medical diagnosis. The central idea of this type of forum, first initiated in 1993 by Prof. Reiter-Theil, bioethicist at the university of Basel, is to let patients and their relatives actively participate in the bioethical discussion. The dialogue between medical doctor and patient is part of a complex set of interactions between medical progress, ethical aspects and legal regulations. It should be governed by the respect for the autonomy of the patient and by his or her will and capacity to deal with a difficult diagnosis. The communication should be non directive in its nature, but nevertheless take place in an ethically sensitised and responsible manner. As a result counts not what type of message was intended, but what type of message the patient received. The diverse results of the conference can be summarized under the phrase "the patient should determine the rhythm", i. e. the timing and the type of diagnostic knowledge she or he wants to receive.