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1 AnsweR to Question 1
If the physician wants to fully atone for his misdeeds, he has to do
several things:
1. He has to pay for any damages that occurred as a result of the
surgery, since he is the one who restricted the woman in her
future deliveries. A beis din will determine how much he has
to pay the woman. (This sum is in addition to the return of the
actual payment he received for the surgery.)
2. He has to ask forgiveness from the women on whom he per-
formed unnecessary surgery. As explained in maseches Bava
Kamma 92a, even after the person who caused damage pays for
the damage, he is not forgiven until he asks the damaged party
for forgiveness.
3. I heard from my father-in-law, Rav Y. S. Elyashiv zt”l, that the
physician would do well to accept upon himself that from now
on he will not perform any surgery without first consulting with
another physician. This is a precaution to ensure that he does
not sin again in this regard.
1 AnsweR to Question 2
In order to answer this question, let us discuss a similar case.
Reuven, who was angry at Shimon, entered his store and broke
his barrels of liquor. Immediately after he did the damage, the police
entered the store and began searching for illegal alcoholic beverages.
They searched and searched and found nothing. Had Reuven not
broken the barrels, the inspectors would have certainly found them
and punished Shimon severely.
The Mekor Chayim was asked whether Reuven is obligated to pay
for the damage he caused. Two answers were given:
1. The Mekor Chayim, (written by Rabbi Chayim Sogolovitch, a
posek in Vilna, #33) and the Orchos Hamishpat (Part 2, Mazik,
42:32) both responded that Reuven is exempt. Since immedi-
72 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein
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A PHYSICIAN REMOVED
34
THE LEFT KIDNEY INSTEAD
OF THE RIGHT AND FOUND
THAT IT WAS CANCEROUS
1 Question
A young boy lost both kidneys and awaited a transplant from his
mother, who was a good match. The woman hired an excellent private
surgeon to perform the transplant surgery. The surgeon mistakenly
removed her left kidney instead of the right one. Upon examination,
this kidney was found to be riddled with cancer. Had he removed
the correct, right kidney, the cancer would have spread throughout
the body and she would have been left with no kidney at all, as the
right one would have been transplanted to her son and the left would
have been dysfunctional due to the cancer. It turns out that the hand
of Hashem guided the surgeon to save the woman’s life. As wise men
have said, “A physician’s mistake is the will of the Creator.”
Two questions can be asked:
Is the physician obligated to pay the woman for damages?
If the physician is halachically exempt from paying for the damages,
is the woman obligated to pay the physician for the surgery he per-
formed, which, in spite of his negligence, saved her life?
1 AnsweR
Regarding the first question, as to whether or not the physician is
obligated to pay the woman for damages, the basis of the question is
Removed the Wrong Kidney 2 77