Rabbi Gideon Weitzman

WEITZMAN

Finding a Cure

The world is still in the grip of the horrific Covid 19 pandemic that has had such devastating effects on all of us. The race is on worldwide to find a vaccine to treat the virus, and many labs and units are searching for a medical breakthrough. If a company announced that they have developed a vaccine and are looking for people to be used in the clinical trials, would it be permitted to use this new drug? What would be the halachic requirement for testing a new medication? While the objective of the current pursuit is to find a treatment for Coronavirus, this is not a unique case, and we could ask about the permissibility of using any novel or experimental treatment.

We know the supreme importance in Jewish law of the value of life, so much so that almost all the halachic limitations and requirements are suspended in the case of danger to life. One is obligated to break Shabbat in the case of pikuach nefesh, and whoever is swift in this mitzvah is praiseworthy and whoever tarries, even just questioning whether the treatment should be administered, is considered as though they spilled the blood of the sick person. (See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 328:2)

Rabbi Avraham Gombiner states, in the Magen Avraham, that this is only the case when the medication is well known to people or experts. We are only permitted to break Shabbat to dispense a tried and tested medication or medical procedure. In other cases, the Magen Avraham writes that Shabbat cannot be superseded since this cure is unknown and unproven to be effective.

The Magen Avraham does not stipulate how many times the medication has proven to be successful. The Shulchan Aruch, in a different chapter (301:25), writes that if a treatment has been used effectively three times, this is sufficient to define it as “expert” or proven. The number three is the usual number of times that something must occur to assign it halachic probability and significance. The chazakah presumes that if something happens three times it is likely to happen on all occasions. Modern medical trials require stricter criteria than three consecutive cases. We would possibly have to adjust our halachic definition accordingly and say that until a drug has passed all clinical trials it cannot be termed “expert” and proven. Based on the Magen Avraham it would appear that we cannot permit the use of experimental drugs without knowing all the possible harmful side effects. www.puahonline.org