Medicine of Excellence in the Future – Between the Right to Health, Resource Scarcity, and the Freedom to be Unreasonable

Life’s a risk. We all know as much. But how much risk can we allow ourselves today? We discussed these and other complex questions on April 8, 2025, with our guests. As part of the 16th Berliner Stiftungswoche, Stiftung Charité invited the public to the lecture hall ruins of Charité’s medical history museum, and Berliners came out in large numbers.

On the panel, Henning Stötefalke (head of Berlin office, DAK-Gesundheit) and literary author David Wagner, who has experienced top-tier medicine firsthand as a transplant patient, spoke with pediatric oncologist and clinic director Prof. Dr. Angelika Eggert and medical ethicist and Vice Dean Prof. Dr. Susanne Michl, both from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Sascha Karberg (journalist, Der Tagesspiegel) moderated the discussion.

Subsequently, the experts continued the conversation with the audience, discussing topics including the future design of the healthcare system, potential opt-out solutions for data and organ donations, and possibilities for early detection of diseases that already exist today.