Taking medication on Shabbat when continuous treatment is not required
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Question
To the esteemed rabbis shlita,
Does the halacha that permits a person who regularly takes medication to continue taking it on Shabbat apply only to medications for which continuity of treatment is important (such as chronic medications), or does it also apply to medications like a sleeping pill that he takes every night, but for which, from a medical perspective, continuity of treatment is not significant if he does not take the pill on Shabbat?
Does the halacha that permits a person who regularly takes medication to continue taking it on Shabbat apply only to medications for which continuity of treatment is important (such as chronic medications), or does it also apply to medications like a sleeping pill that he takes every night, but for which, from a medical perspective, continuity of treatment is not significant if he does not take the pill on Shabbat?
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
For medications where continuity is not important, one must consider each time whether the situation permits taking the medication.
The general rule regarding taking medications on Shabbat is that only someone who is considered a “sick person” may take medication, and not one who suffers merely from a “minor discomfort.”
A “sick person” is defined as one who suffers in his entire body, or one who is compelled to lie in bed because of the illness.
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