German Health Minister Rejects US Criticism Over COVID-19 Policies

Germany's Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, has firmly dismissed allegations made by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding Germany's handling of medical autonomy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy, in a recently circulated video and accompanying social media posts, accused the German government of undermining patient autonomy and claimed that thousands of German doctors and their patients faced criminal prosecution for issuing mask and vaccination exemptions.

In response, Minister Warken clarified that at no point during the pandemic were German doctors compelled to administer COVID-19 vaccines. She emphasized that physicians who chose not to provide vaccinations based on medical, ethical, or personal grounds were not subject to legal penalties or professional sanctions. According to Warken, legal action was only taken in confirmed cases of document fraud, such as the issuance of false vaccination certificates or illegitimate mask exemption attestations.

Warken's position was supported by her predecessor, Karl Lauterbach, who publicly advised Kennedy to focus on domestic health challenges in the United States, including limited life expectancy, high healthcare costs, and widespread substance abuse issues. Lauterbach also highlighted the independence of the German judiciary, stating that sanctions against medical professionals were imposed by courts, not by the government, and only in instances involving proven misconduct.

Several legal proceedings in Germany have addressed the improper issuance of medical documents during the pandemic. In one case, a physician in North Rhine-Westphalia was convicted for confirming hundreds of COVID-19 vaccinations that were never administered. Another case involved a doctor in Lower Saxony who received a suspended sentence for providing unwarranted mask exemptions and making inflammatory statements at a public gathering. These incidents, according to German authorities, were exceptions rather than the norm and did not reflect systematic prosecution of healthcare professionals for medical discretion.

Minister Warken also addressed Kennedy's assertion that the German government was infringing upon the traditional relationship between doctors and patients. She reiterated that medical decisions remained within the professional remit of physicians, provided that documentation and exemptions were based on legitimate grounds and not falsified.

The US criticism follows a pattern of increasing scrutiny and intervention in German domestic policy, particularly during the administration of President Donald Trump. Recent remarks from other US officials have touched on issues such as freedom of expression, the political landscape, and migration policy in Germany. German leaders, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have responded by asserting the nation's sovereignty over its internal affairs.

Political analysts in Germany have characterized Kennedy's comments as part of a broader ideological campaign by certain US political factions aimed at influencing European discourse. The German Ministry of Health has not released comprehensive statistics on the total number of legal cases involving pandemic-related medical exemptions.

Overall, the German government maintains that its pandemic response respected both patient autonomy and legal standards, with punitive measures reserved exclusively for fraudulent or unlawful activities. The recent exchange of statements underscores ongoing transatlantic tensions over public health policy and the role of government oversight in medical practice.