Re: gelatin
^But not in medicines?
I always was told, that if you need treatment you can use medication containing alcohol or other drugs which under normal circumstances are forbidden.
I have to work often with alcohol ketonatus in the pharmacy, and we make certain ointments with lard (adeps suillus) as a base. My colleagues told me that it's from the grease of kidney of either a pig or an ox.
When a doctor prescribes it as a remedy for a disease it's not haram, is it?
I mean, we are allowed to eat haram meat, just a little bit to survive in emergency cases like war or hurricanes for example, if there really is no other way to survive.