Chief medical officer relieved of duty after "eugenics" statement

Following a controversial editorial on the subject of human genetics, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Saxony (KVS) has dismissed its chairman Klaus Heckemann from his position. At a special meeting of the representatives' assembly, 28 of the 37 participants voted in favor of a corresponding motion, as announced by the KVS. Until a successor is elected, the KVS will be led by the deputy chairperson of the board, Dr. Sylvia Krug. A new start is unavoidable, said Stefan Windau, Chairman of the Representatives' Assembly.

Heckemann wrote in the text, which appeared in the June issue of "KVS-Mitteilungen", about genetic diagnostics and "eugenics in its best and most humane sense", among other things. A "vision of the future" of genetic testing is described. All women who wish to have children should be offered a complete mutation search for hereditary diseases.

National Socialists committed mass murder under the guise of eugenics

"Eugenics" stands for the doctrine of supposedly good hereditary traits. Under the guise of this term, the National Socialists carried out mass murders of disabled people for the purpose of supposed "hereditary and racial hygiene".

At the KVS representatives' meeting on Wednesday, the members unanimously adopted a resolution in which they unreservedly committed themselves to the values of the free and democratic basic order, in addition to dismissing Heckemann from his office.

Heckemann's theses had triggered a wave of criticism. Lars Rohwer (CDU), a member of the Bundestag in Dresden and President of the Saxon State Association for Health Promotion, stated that Heckemann's vision ran completely counter to the ethos of the medical profession. Representatives of Dresden University Medicine described Heckemann as "no longer acceptable" in an open letter to Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD). The Ministry of Social Affairs also distanced itself from Heckemann's statements.