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water, it is considered as if he killed them. When King David heard # 20818
The physician’s repentance
this, he called the Givonim and said to them: What can I do to atone
for what was done to you?...
The first step of repentance for the physician is to take upon himself We learn from here that the first step to repentance for impinge-
not to prolong any hospitalization unnecessarily, even at the cost of ment on one’s livelihood is to repay what was taken. This is what the
his livelihood. This obviously applies if the additional days are for the physician should do as well.
financial benefit of the hospital, but not if his supervisors truly be-
lieve they are essential for the patient. It is ruled in the Shulchan Aruch 1
(Choshen Mishpat #366:1) that if a famous thief desires to repent and SuMMaRy and Conclusions
change his ways - something that is extremely difficult for him - then 1. The physician has to accept upon himself not to heed instruc-
if the stolen item does not exist anymore, we do not demand it of tions of the administration demanding something that is not
him, so as not to prevent him from repenting. According to this, if the for the benefit of the patient.
physician regularly carried out the administration’s orders to prolong
the hospitalizations of patients, and repentance is difficult for him, 2. The physician has to appease the patient whose hospital-stay he
the patient should forgive him. However the physician still has to prolonged unnecessarily.
appease the patient for the loss of income he caused him.
But one can still ask: What good is the patient’s forgiveness when
he received compensation from the insurance company for the loss
of income? Doesn’t the physician now owe money to the insurance
company? Moreover, the Shach writes (Choshen Mishpat #366:1) re-
garding this ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, in the name of Sefer Chassi-
dim (#1082), that the victim is obligated to forgive the repentant thief
only as long as he [the victim] does not owe other people money. If
the victim owes other people money, he has no right to forgive the
thief. He must demand the money back in order to repay his debts.
Likewise, if the patient is obligated to return money taken from the
insurance company, he has no right to forgive the physician, and the
physician is obligated to repay the insurance company.
In maseches Yevamos (79a) our Sages explain why there was a fam-
ine in the time of King David for three consecutive years. David asked
the Urim Vetumim (High Priest’s breastplate) and he was told that the
famine was a punishment for not eulogizing King Shaul properly, and
for Shaul’s killing the Givonim. Where do we find that Shaul killed
the Givonim? The Gemara answers: Since Shaul killed the residents
of Nov, the city of Kohanim, to which the Givonim supplied food and

298 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Prolonging hospitalization 2 299