[Avodah] govt requirements for doctors

[Eli Turkel]

In his monthly shiur to doctors R. Zilberstein got into an argument with a
number of the doctors.
The question was from an American doctor who wanted to administer a drug.
The US rules are such that the medicine is permitted only on condition that
the woman use anti-pregnancy pills and the husband agrees to use a condom.
The medicine could cause problems to a fetus. The pills have 98% efficiency
and the condom gives the extra 2% of preventing a pregnancy.

The doctor personally felt the pills were enough and wanted to have the
husband lie on the form about using the condom. He went to Rav Elyashiv who
got very upset at the idea of lying on a form. The doctor tried to argue
that lying is permitted for "shalom bayit" but R. Elyashiv refused to
permit it. R. Zilberstein was the intermediary and explained the psak of R.
Elyashiv that a doctor can practice medicine only with the permission of a
bet din. In modern society that means the permission of the
health authorities.  Since they didnt allow use of the drug without these
conditions which are reasonable, thus the doctor can't use his own
reasoning against the authority that gives him permission to do medicine.
In the end R. Zilberstein suggested a compromise which was to put a hole in
the condom.  In this case the husband is not lying, in addition the condom
still offers protection against pregnancy though no longer 100% and it
would now be allowed by halacha.

In summary R. Zilberstein was very insistent that a doctor cannot violate
any rules of the health ministry based on his own experience as long as the
rules are reasonable and not simply anti-Jewish. A number of doctors tried
arguing that doctors frequently "don't go by the book" but R. Zilberstein
insisted that they had no right to do this.

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In a slightly similar case I saw that some poskim were very insistent that
if someone lights shabbat or chanukah candles in a hotel room or in a plane
against the explicit rules of the owner that they are considered stealing
and the candle lighting is a mitzvah done through an averah.

-- 
Eli Turkel
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