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But if Reuven is a Torah scholar, the Chafetz Chaim deliberates If the groom claims he has recovered, the Chelkas Mechokek writes
whether or not one should reveal Shimon’s financial straits to him. If (#117,12) that one must be concerned that his illness may return. The
Reuven is a Torah scholar, we need to be more concerned about the Beis Shmuel disagrees (ibid, 12) and rules that it is possible that he was
possibility of harming him. He takes precedence to Shimon. completely cured. I heard from my father-in-law, Rav Y. S. Elyashiv
Rav Akiva Eiger (Hagahos on Yoreh De’ah #251:3) says that blood zt”l, that people care about this illness, perhaps even more than a
relatives take precedence to Torah scholars when giving charity. This mental illness.
#
may apply in our case as well, and we may instruct the physician to We passed this question on to Professor Avinoam Shofar, an expert
give priority to his relative. Even though the probability of damage is on neurology and pediatric epilepsy, in order to hear his professional
not very high, he should reveal it to his relative. opinion. This is his response:
In spite of the above, there is still reason to be stringent in our To the honorable Rav, shlita,
case, since the patient relied on the physician not to reveal his secrets. To the best of my knowledge there are several points which must
Therefore, if the illness is serious and is accompanied by the danger be considered.
of real damage, the physician is obligated to reveal it, since he already One must make certain that the groom suffers from epilepsy and
swore at Mount Sinai to fulfill the mitzvah “Do not stand idly by the not from some other illness. Tegretol has other uses, mostly for relief
blood of your fellowman” (Vayikra 19:16). Near that mitzvah the To- of pain stemming from a neurological cause (such as trigeminal neu-
rah says, “Do not be a gossipmonger among your people.” The Ba’al ralgia), and at times even for a migraine.
HaTurim explains that although one should “not be a gossipmonger,” If the young man is in fact taking the medication to prevent epi-
he is also not allowed to “stand idly by the blood” of his fellowman, leptic seizures, you should investigate when he was diagnosed. It is
and he must tell him if someone is setting up a trap for him. How- entirely possible that he became ill after his marriage.
ever, in our case, where the possibility of damage is not certain, even If he really has epilepsy, what caused it? Sometimes serious dis-
though the physician is concerned with the wellbeing of his relative, orders, or even life-endangering illnesses such as brain tumors can
he still has no permission to reveal his patient’s secrets. Therefore, express themselves as epilepsy at a certain stage.
further study is required in order to determine whether or not he is Most cases of epilepsy are mild and respond well to treatment.
allowed to reveal it to a relative. There are many medications that help prevent convulsions. There are
some patients with epilepsy who, even without treatment, only very
1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions rarely have seizures. Patients with epilepsy serve in the army and they
get driver’s licenses. They can live a normal life, on condition that they
1. The physician has to weigh carefully whether or not notifying get consistent medical follow-up. Only about 20% of epileptics have
the patient of his chances of developing a serious illness will an uncontrolled disease.
enable him to prevent or to treat the illness. If it will, then it is Just from reading your letter and without knowing the real details
proper to tell him about it. As the Rambam (Hilchos Rotze’ach of this case, it would seem that if this person is using Tegretol to con-
1:14) writes: If he hears gentiles or informers plotting some evil trol his convulsions, he is dealing with a mild case of epilepsy, which
for his friend or setting up a trap for him, and he does not tell is under control enough so that even his wife is unaware of it. He is
his friend… he violates “Do not stand idly by the blood of your highly functional, indicating, again, that his case is a mild one and he
fellowman.” only needs low doses of medication. High doses of medication would

52 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Epilepsy 2 81