Citizens' university: When is man dead?

In Germany, more than 8,500 people are currently waiting for an organ donation. In comparison: in 2024, organs were removed from 953 patients after brain death was confirmed. The shortage is glaring and is fuelling the debate about the opt-out solution: According to this, all people would be donors as long as they do not actively object. Other voices go further and demand that, in addition to brain death, cardiac death should also be recognised as a prerequisite for organ donation. The question remains as to what is ethically justifiable.

Dr Ulrich Hofstadt-van Oy, lecturer at the School of Medicine at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) and Head of Neurology at the Knappschaft Clinics in Dortmund, has been involved in brain death diagnostics for decades. At the Citizens' University, he will discuss both the development and the problems of the brain death concept and enter into dialogue with the participants.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 7 October, from 8 pm at Haus Witten, Ruhrstraße 86. Admission costs 7 euros at the box office (5 euros reduced, e.g. for students). The Citizens' University is a joint format of the vhs Witten | Wetter | Herdecke and the WittenLab. Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale of the Witten/Herdecke University.