[The current state of law as a mirror of social movements and currents].

The question of what movements and currents in society may have urged the legislator to grant to the life of the pre-implanted embryo complete legal protection, in obvious contradistinction to the total denial of the latter to a post-implantation foetus, when a pregnant woman is deem to be in a legally-recognised pregnancy-related conflict situation, is investigated. To the extent that it exacerbates the difficulties of sterile couples to have children, this state of affairs differs considerably from the legal situation of almost all other countries of the western world. It is dismaying to note the widespread lack of interest of the public regarding the question of how to bridge the inconsistencies of evaluation of the need for protection of human life before and after nidation.

[Effects of defensive medicine on costs].

Physicians who give priority to the reduction of their exposure to malpractice as compared to the health of their patients practise defensive medicine. Far-reaching yieldingness to unjustified requests of the patients in order to avoid unpleasant quarrels also falls into this category. Among other things, an increase in diagnostics, consultations and in-patient treatments as well as a decrease in risky medical measures are the consequences.

Depression and anxiety symptoms in women at high risk for breast cancer: pilot study of a group intervention.

Objective: The psycho-oncology literature to date contains only one outcome study based on a group model for high-risk relatives of breast cancer patients. The authors set out to study the effects of group intervention in high-risk relatives of breast cancer patients.

Method: Thirty-three high-risk relatives of breast cancer patients participated in a six-session, 12-hour group intervention model that consisted of educational and psychosocial components.

[Personal experiences of a physician with legal proceedings].

According to the author's experience with a judicial inquiry, the borderline between the right of the prosecutor to get an insight into the patients file and the right of the physician to refuse the disclosure of the patient's medical history is very much blurred. Even if the inquiry is directed just against an unknown person, a physician should be aware that the Department of Public Prosecution might take stiffening procedural steps to enforce its demand. At any rate, the physician's position to keep the patient's data secret is very weak in such a situation.

[Legal liability in failed sterilization from the physician's viewpoint].

Recanalization of oviducts as well as spermatic ducts occur at a low promille rate after sterilization even if correctly performed. Therefore, pregnancies after unsuccessful sterilization cannot be taken as an immediate proof for a faulty surgical procedure. The surgeon is recommended to have the correctness of a sterilization confirmed in writing by competent witness of the operation (assistant doctor, nurse).

Reproductive medicine--a field of contradictory legislation in Germany.

A brief survey is given on the German legislation concerning reproductive medicine which is contradictory both in juridical and ethical terms. Being under strong ideologic and/or populistic pressure, it favours negative family planning measures such as all kinds of birth control including induced abortion, and handicaps, on the other hand, the more sophisticated procedures of assisted fertilization to overcome infertility. Thus, legal restrictions in this country halt the scientific progress and set back the clinical standard in comparison to our neighbouring countries, all of which are more liberal in their respective legislation.

Pharmacokinetics and protein binding of 3-ketodesogestrel and gestodene in the serum of women during 6 cycles of treatment with two low dose oral contraceptives.

The serum concentrations of 3-ketodesogestrel (KDG) and gestodene have been measured in 30 and 31 women respectively who took low dose oral contraceptives containing 30 micrograms ethinylestradiol together with either 150 micrograms desogestrel or 75 micrograms gestodene for 6 months. On days 1, 10 and 21 of the first third and sixth treatment cycles blood samples were drawn at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.