F-01-0496
49
22 - 10 - 2025
Cancer Patient Leaving Treatment
If a person is diagnosed with cancer and does not undergo chemotherapy, but instead relies on painkillers because chemotherapy destroys more than it heals, is he sinful for abandoning treatment?
Answer
I say, and with God's success: Seeking treatment is permissible but not obligatory. Therefore, if someone abandons treatment and dies, he does not die as a sinner; because abandoning treatment does not equate to self-destruction, as he may recover without treatment or the treatment may not benefit him. Thus, there is no sin in his abandoning treatment, as mentioned in the opening of the chapter on care 5: 281. And God knows best.
