Page 255 - 20818_park-B_efi

20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Cyan
20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Black
#20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Yellow
20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Magenta

A PHYSICIAN OPENED HIS
NOTIFYING AUTHORITIES COLLEAGUE’S LETTER BY
#
OF A PHYSICIAN’S MISTAKE AND NOW WANTS
48 DEFICIENCIES 50 TO REVEAL HIS SECRET
LETOELES

1 Questions
1 Question
A position became available in a hospital, and a certain physician
applied. He is an expert and experienced, but he has a major charac- Dr. Shimon is a physician who works in a hospital in Israel. One day,
ter flaw: he is constantly teasing people and making biting remarks Shimon opened a letter by mistake, and saw that it was meant for
about them. One can assume that if he is accepted, he will make it Dr. Reuven, his friend, who is a wonderful and expert physician and
difficult for the medical staff and physicians, and perhaps also for the with vast medical knowledge. In the letter, the administration of a
patients. Is it permissible to reveal this to the administration of the hospital abroad was offering him a position and promising a salary
hospital and thus interfere with his candidacy, or is it prohibited as several times what Dr. Reuven was earning in Israel.
lashon hara? Shimon knew that if Reuven leaves his present hospital it will be a
great loss to the patients in Israel. If he would tell the administration
A patient once suffered from cough, shortness of breath and lack of the hospital here in Israel, they would speak to Reuven, favor him
of air, along with a low-grade fever that continued for 7 days. The and convince him not to leave his position in their hospital.
emergency room physician did not bother to examine her but sent Is it permissible for Shimon to reveal what he saw by accident,
her immediately for an x-ray. Additionally, he did not interpret the without permission?
x-ray correctly and did not diagnose pneumonia, even though there
were abnormalities in the chest x-ray. In his discharge letter he wrote 1
that the patient was suffering from inflammation of the bronchial AnsweR
passages and the sinuses in the nose, despite the fact that nothing on The Kol Bo writes (#116) that there is a decree from Rabbeinu Gershom
the x-ray indicated this. The antibiotic treatment he prescribed was that one should not read a fellowman’s letter without his knowledge
not helpful and the patient soon arrived at another hospital in serious and without his permission. The Be’er Hagolah (Yoreh Deah, end of
condition. The second physician listened to the patient’s chest and #334) writes that the decree of Rabbeinu Gershom was that one not
made an immediate diagnosis of pneumonia. He said that at the pa- look at another’s mail without his permission unless he discarded it.

220 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Physician wants to reveal secret 2 249

#20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Yellow 20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Magenta 20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Cyan 20818_efi-ab - 20818_efi-ab | 8 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:29:02 | SR:-- | Black #