Injecting a patient with morphine

17-3-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please answer my question as soon as possible, because I have to make my final decision within 24 hours. I work as a personal care giver for elder people. Recently I received an offer to take care of a very old lady who is restless and needs to be given oxygen every day. In order to supply her with oxygen she needs to be given an injection of morphine to let her relax and then supply her with the oxygen. Is it Haram for me to give her morphine as a part of my job with her? Should I accept the job?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

 

We apologize for this unintentional delay since we received the question on the weekend and we were consulting medical doctors to learn the nature of this medicine.

After consulting the specialist, we conclude that the medicine (morphine) is among the addictive narcotic medicines.  Therefore, basically it is not permitted to use such medicine except in the limits of dire necessity that is determined by a trustworthy doctor.

If the case of this patient is as mentioned then you may accept this job and to inject her with the medicine; otherwise, you should not perform the job.

Allah knows best.