Position Paper: The Obligation To Be Healed

1. Introduction “It can be logically inferred that one who feels pain will go to a healing place” says the Gemara offhandedly (Bava Kama 46b); in other words the belief that someone who is sick will see a doctor requires no prooftext or evidence. Is the simple and obvious custom, a universally accepted phenomenon nowadays, […]

Position Paper – Drug Administration in Terminally Ill Patients

1.Introduction Terminally ill patients will generally receive numerous types of medications. Some are designated to treat the illness (to slow progression or to combat the disease entirely) and some are administered to improve quality of life (to prevent suffering as much as possible, limit risk of infection, etc.). The question that arises from this is: […]

Position Paper – Artificial Respiration in Terminally Ill Patients

Prolonging life via artificial respiration/ventilation is a life-saving treatment, but in many cases the possibility of ventilation brings up a difficult question: is prolonging this patient’s life truly desired or needed? In some cases, the ventilation will lead to prolonging of life artificially, but with no real benefit to the patient’s life, and all efforts […]

Online webinar: End of Life Decisions

Tzohar Through 120 and AACI (Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel): Online session on personal, medical and ethical perspectives in preparing for end-of-life.

Position Paper – Artificial Nutrition in Terminally Ill Patients

אינפוזיה

1.Introduction The question of whether there is an obligation to provide artificial nutrition or whether there are halachic grounds to withhold sustenance of this nature arises in different medical contexts.  Terminally ill patients will at times express a desire to abstain from artificial nutrition – both in the moment or as an advance directive. In […]

Disclosing Information to Patients

מתחבקים

1. Defining the Term The question discussed in this entry is: Are we obligated or required to disclose the whole truth regarding the medical condition of a patient suffering from a severe, life-threatening disease, tell him only part of the truth, conceal the truth from him, or genuinely lie to him? We are addressing mainly […]