The right of self-determination and physical integrity of the patient are fundamental rights protected by the German basic law; therefore, the patient has to consent to any medical measure undertaken by a physician. In order to reach an informed consent, the patient has to be adequately informed by the physician. It is legally disputed, whether this important task can be delegated to other
... [Show full abstract] physicians, nursing staff or medical students. In a verdict from 2014 concerning a case from 2008, the Higher Regional Court in Karlsruhe declared the delegation to a final year medical student to be permissible under certain prerequisites. However, taking the legal requirements and the explanatory memorandum of the patient rights act (PatRG) into account, the delegation to medical students could be impermissible. To which groups the information of the patient can be delegated is analyzed using the recent legislation, relevant jurisdiction and the literature. According to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Justice such a delegation requires specific requirements to be complied with. This article reports on how this is dealt with in the practice. It becomes apparent that with respect to the delegation of information by medical students, there is no clear solution concerning the conflict between the training of medical students and patient protection. This is also the case when taking the patient rights act into account. Thus, the delegation to medical students leads to liability risks even when the information to the patient was conducted in a proper and comprehensive manner.