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Injected Medications and Shabbos

Question:

I administer an injected medication to my five-year-old child every other day. The medication’s purpose is to stimulate my child’s immune system, preventing serious opportunistic bacterial infections. The medication is supposed to be injected at the same time, or about the same time, each scheduled day. Currently, I administer the injection around 8:30-9:00 AM.

Giving this medication necessarily involves several melachos, but I had the thought that it might be possible to gradually shift the injection to a later time during the day. If the time for administration were moved to around shkiah, it might be possible to avoid giving the injection on Shabbos by giving it either immediately before candle lighting or immediately after the end of Shabbos. Is it necessary, or even preferable, to do this? Or is it better to just stick with the original schedule?

Thank you for your help.

Answer:

 

 

When discussing injections on Shabbos one has to differentiate between intravenous (into the vein) or subcutaneous (under the skin) or intramuscular (into the muscle) injections. Intravenous injections generally draw blood and therefore might be forbidden מן התורה, but subcutaneous and intramuscular injections which do not cause bleeding are not forbidden מן התורה . Since there could also be other מלאכות involved as well e.g. attaching the needle to the syringe, sterilizing the needle and site of injection it is highly commendable if you could avoid administrating the injection on Shabbos.

 

מראה מקומות: שו”ת ציץ אליעזר  ח”ט עמוד עז ועמוד קכז, וח”י עמוד קה, וחי”ג סי’ מה.

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