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In matters between man and his fellow when one needs to
seek out the truth in order to help one who was harmed…
even if he did not see the thing himself, but others told
him that someone did an injustice to someone else and
there are devarim nikarim that prove this is true, it seems
to me that it is permissible to say this to others and to
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explain what happened… so that they be aroused to help
the victim of the injustice.
This applies even more so in our case, where telling the public may
save a baby from infection and cause people to hire an appropriate
mohel.
Therefore, one should say that the mohel has a medical problem
and thus cannot perform circumcision at present. It is prohibited,
however, to besmirch his good name. After a certain amount of time,
if a beis din sees that it is impossible to restore him to his previous
position, they will disqualify him forever.

Publicizing that a scribe is a sinner
1 Question
While treating a patient who works as a scribe of Torah scrolls, tefillin
and mezuzos, I found out that he is a sinner due to uncontrollable
urges. As a physician I am not to reveal details about my patients. On
the other hand, does Heaven obligate me to reveal that he is a sinner?
1 AnsweR
This patient is considered an apostate for pleasure because he does
not sin intentionally, in order to anger Hashem; rather, he has no
control over his abnormal urges. He is also viewed as an apostate
for one matter, since he does not transgress other sins. The Mishnah
354 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
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of Israel.” In other words, had Hashem not specifically told Moshe
to “speak,” he would have been prohibited to tell others what Hash-
em had told him. The Semag (Lo Taaseh #9, Yoreh Deah in Magen
Avraham #156:2) rules the same, as does the Chafetz Chaim (Hilchos
Lashon Hara, Rule 2, Be’er Mayim Chayim #16). This applies even
more so if the person explicitly told his friend not to reveal the secret
that he told him.
Moreover, when a person tells his physician something, it is self-un-
derstood that his confidentiality will be maintained. Physicians do
not reveal information about their patients, and they even swear not
to do so. Medical confidentiality is the basis of trust between patient
and physician, and is extremely vital in the process of healing. As
the Rosh wrote (Bava Kamma 8:1), the patient has to have peace of
mind with his physician. This peace of mind comes from the patient’s 12
knowledge that he can trust his physician.
In a situation where keeping a secret may cause harm to someone
else, all of the above does not apply. The patient himself is forbidden
to cause harm to someone else by keeping the secret; he has a mitzvah
to reveal his condition. How then can he demand that the physician
not reveal his secret? Even if keeping the secret will benefit the pa-
tient, the physician has no right to thereby cause harm to another
person. The Tosfos (Bava Kamma 23, s.v. ulechayev) says that a person
must be more careful not to injure others than to prevent injury from
himself. Therefore, one has to take into consideration when acting for
the benefit of the patient, that others not be harmed because of the
secret. Moreover, if maintaining the confidentiality of one patient will
interfere with the medical treatment and healing of others, then the
oath of confidentiality is not relevant if there is a dangerous illness
involved.
If so, it is logical that the man is obligated to reveal his disease to
his wife and he has no right to ask the physician to hide his illness if
it might impact on his wife.
It seems to me that if the possibility that he will become infected
with the AIDS virus and then infect his wife is very far-fetched, per-
haps the physician is allowed to remain silent, and his silence would
Telling a woman that her spouse is suspected of sin 2 371
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