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physician’s oath is considered valid and he is forbidden to violate it
until he annuls it.
It is also possible that the situation is not good for the patient
himself. Since the fights between him and her family are liable to
worsen his illness, clarifying things may also benefit the patient and
thus would not conflict his oath. 74 MUST ONE REVEAL AN
ILLNESS WHICH IS LIKELY
1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions TO BECOME DANGEROUS IN
THE FUTURE?
1. A physician is not allowed to say: I am only involved in medi-
cine. He is obligated to do any type of charity or kindness, both
for the patient and for anyone else.
2. If a physician swore not to reveal secrets, he should annul his 1 Question Revealing a possibly dangeRous illness
oath. He may be obligated to examine the patient even without
annulling his oath. Recently, I treated a nineteen-year-old young man who suffered from
inflammation of the optic nerve (optic neuritis). The course of the
illness was as expected, with gradual improvement leading to com-
plete recovery. However, there is well-known medical knowledge that
about 35% of men afflicted with this inflammation will develop a very
He Did Not Tell His Bride That He Takes serious disease – multiple sclerosis – over the next fifteen years. In
Psychiatric Drugs or Medications women, the danger is greater – about 75%.
It is accepted not to reveal this information to the patient, as there
1 Question is no benefit in doing so because there is no way to identify those
patients who are likely to develop the illness, and there is no way to
A young man met a girl and they found favor in each other’s eyes. prevent it.
The young man planned on telling her that he takes a psychiatric I wish to ask:
pill (Clonex) daily. Before he had a chance to tell her, his father met
with hers and they wrote tenaim. The groom now wants to tell the 1. Perhaps, in spite of this, it may be proper to share this infor-
bride his secret, since he is concerned that otherwise the marriage mation with the patient, so that if and when a way to treat or
would be considered a mistaken transaction. However, his father is prevent the illness from developing is discovered, he will know
afraid this will cause the girl to break off the engagement. Since the to come and receive the treatment. Since optic neuritis primar-
father worked so hard to finalize the engagement, he is threatening ily affects young people who are not yet married, maybe there
to disown his son and refuse to help him again if the engagement is is an obligation to inform the patient’s family of the danger so
broken. The groom is very attached to his father and needs his help. that the patient’s future spouse will not suffer from this lack of
Therefore, he is pleading for advice. How can he refrain from violating awareness?
24 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Revealing a possibly dangerous illness 2 45
