Q. There is a treatment that has 20000 medical papers looking into it that involves taking by mouth a Helminth/ worm harvested from grain beetles that calms the immune system so that tolerance is induced and the auto immune illness improves or is cured. Illnesses, like rheumatoid arthritis and MS may be greatly benefited. Is this Kosher?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that the answer requires further clarification, as it depends if the parasitic worms are visible to the naked eye or not. This is a complex issue, since there are important Halachic variants involved, such as if the worms are invisible to the eye at early stages, but when they mature they can be easily perceived. Also, they may not be recognizable to the naked eye as singular separate multicellular organisms, but since they generally and naturally grow in clusters, and those are perceptible without any optic magnification, they would remain prohibited. If the above standarts are met, further clarification is also necessary to ascertain that no part of the host beetle is included in the medical preparation to be eaten.
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Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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