Medical Knowledge

 Bechoros (45a): The students of R’ Yishmael once dissected the body of a prostitute who had been condemned to be burnt by the king. When they asked R’ Yishmael how many bones are in the human body he replied that there are 248. They told him that in fact they had examined a human body and found that there were 252 joints & limbs. He said the discrepancy is from the fact he was describing the number for a male and they were describing the number for a female who has four extra.

Cleveland Clinic

     https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/25176-bones

Adults have between 206 and 213 bones. You use all of them each day to sit, stand and move. Your bones protect your internal organs and give your body its shape. Bones can maintain themselves. But health conditions like osteoporosis can make you more likely to break bones or have other complications.

Kaftor v’Ferach (Chapter 44): We see in the Talmud that those scholars who were only expert in secular knowledge were not called rav or rebbe but were referred to by their name only… For example Todus the doctor  or Benyamin the healer or Bar Nosson the healer … However those whose primary wisdom was from the Torah and the other knowledge was secondary were given the title of rabbi such as Rabban Gamliel who knew astronomy  and Rabbi Eliezar HaGadol. We see that Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair and Rabbi Chanina were doctors as well as Rabbi Pinchas  and Rabbi Chanina … The truth is that all that we know of the seven wisdoms, can be found included in the wisdom of the Talmud and its Sages…

Chasam Sofer (Nidah 18a): What are the meanings of the anatomical terms mentioned in this Mishna? After I researched medical books and medical writers as well as scholars and surgical texts, I have concluded that we cannot deny the fact that reality is not as described by Rashi, Tosfos and the drawings of the Maharam of Lublin. We have only what the Rambam wrote in the Mishna Torah and his Commentary to the Mishna - even though the latter has statements which are unclear. However, you will find correct drawings in the book Maaseh Tuviah and Shevili Emuna…. Therefore, I did not bother at all with the commentaries of Rashi and Tosfos in this matter since it is impossible to match them with true reality. You should know this.

Rav Sherira Gaon (Otzair HaGaonim - Gittin 68b page 152): Our Sages were not doctors and what they said is merely a reflection of what was known by the medical experts of their times and therefore there is no mitzva to accept their statements concerning medicine….

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Shemiras HaGuf v’HaNefesh): Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was asked why the view of Rav Sherira Gaon and the Rambam’s son - that the medical and scientific knowledge of our Sages was that of their times - should be listed as a minority view? He replied: “At the present I don’t remember whether there was anyone who actually disagreed with their views or even whether anyone has the authority to disagree with them. However, rabbinic authorities typically explain disparities in medical and scientific understanding [between the views of our Sages and contemporary science] as the result of change in nature. They do not utilize at all the reason that medical knowledge has advanced from the time of our Sages. That is why I commented that this view should be classed as a minority view. Especially since concerning the laws of Shabbos, there are rabbinic authorities that permit violating the Shabbos in certain circumstances that our Sages say are medically dangerous despite the fact that contemporary doctors assert there is no danger at all.

Rav Yitzchok Herzog (Assia 5 page 196-197 translation by R’ Dov Frimer): I do not deny that I was almost embarrassed ... by what you wrote ... in such a deprecating manner towards blood tests, from a negative aspect. That is, with regard to the possibility that [a blood test can] clarify that X is not the son of Y. How can there be a question of the credibility of the doctors in a matter which has been clearly accepted by all the masters of medicine throughout the entire world! Our Sages nowhere say that it was a statement handed down to Moses on Sinai that creatures came into existence by spontaneous generation.... Moreover, this is impossible, since it is now as clear as the sun at high noon …. However, they held it to be a fact and built on this assumption, since Aristotle had so asserted and so had been accepted by all the scholars of his time. What vast differences there are between the science of medicine in their day and in ours, and between the contacts that exist between all parts of the world today, in contrast to the state of affairs in ancient times! I remember from my reading of medical literature that there is no doubt whatsoever concerning this matter. Yet in your letter you imply that there are differences of opinion among medical experts. With all due respect, you are completely mistaken. Here is a copy of a letter from the government’s medical-legal expert who is also an observant Jew. The husband has already come to me and asked that the judgment be executed. You do not accept this. We shall give him an extension, and I am arranging the matter here and will notify the parties through you as to when they must come. It is unfortunate that while science is progressively conquering worlds and discovering all sorts of secrets, although it too errs at times, we like ostriches bury our heads in sand. It is imperative that we encourage the ablest students of the yeshivot also to be educated as men of science in each discipline, so that we should not need to turn to others in matters of physiology, chemistry, electricity, etc. concerning things that relate to our sacred Torah. ...

A friend of mine took a gadol to a doctor and reported the following 

Doctor - You need to stop smoking it has been established that it is unhealthy and shortens life

Gadol - Your Data is based on goyim who smoke 7 days a week 24/7 I stop for Shabbos so it is not dangerous

Doctor - But your chest xray looks exactly like that a goy who smokes

The Gadol had high blood pressure and in fact died from a heart attack as the doctor had warned