2x19 Lifesigns: Why does The Doctor give access to the medicinal database?

Question

In the episode 2x19 Lifesigns a Vidiian female has been rescued. She is unconscious, but The Doctor makes her "alive" through creating a holo body from her DNA and her remaining memories.

As the story continues, The Doctor begins to fall in love with her. As she claims that it may get boring in the sickbay (holos can't move on the whole ship, as we know), Shmullus tells her that she, also a doctor, is allowed to search the whole medicinal database of the Voyager.

That's a nice offer! But doesn't this violate the Prime Directive or other Federation laws?

Why he may do it:

1. He's in love and not capable of making reasonable decisions. That's what he later also claims, that it's getting hard for him to not think of her while doing his work.
2. Medicine doesn't qualify as "technology." It sounds a bit weird to me, but maybe medicinal inventions are not regarded as technology by the Prime Directive?
3. He is neither allowed, nor would he do it. It's just for the plot and a nice gesture.

Why he shouldn't do it:

1. Refering to pro 1: He may have fallen in love, but to that time it's still in progress and he can still do other things quite well. It doesn't seem like love has stricken him that hard.
2. As a Federation officer and a sophisticated holo program, he should know ALL Federation protocols and laws. So he should have known that it's not the best thing to offer.
3. Voyager doesn't have a good relationship with the Vidiians, nor is it a trade. In the past they had confrontations, like capturing B'Elanna Torres. That's no act of friendship.

So why does he give a foreigner access to the whole medicinal database, if he's still rational?

Shmullus and his chicadillic girlfriend on Mars.

Answer 1

I think this question boils down to a fundamental misunderstanding of the principle of the Prime Directive. While the general idea is that Federation ships shouldn't be conducting first contact with uncontacted alien species, the rule of thumb has always been that they are permitted to engage in the sharing of cultural, scientific and humanitarian information (including medical information + supplies) with warp-capable species like the Vidiians when requested to do so.

Picard explictly states that a specific request for help overrides the Prime Directive in the TNG episode "Pen Pals"

PICARD: Data, I want you to sever the contact with Drema Four. (Data goes to a wall panel and taps in commands)

COMPUTER: Isolating frequency.

SARJENKA [OC]: Data. Data, where are you? Why won't you answer? Are you angry me? Please, please, I'm so afraid. Data, Data, where are you?

PICARD: Wait. Oh, Data. Your whisper from the dark has now become a plea. We cannot turn our backs.

In this particular case, the Vidiians are a highly advanced species with excellent medical technology. They're suffering a plague and have asked for assistance. It would be both impolite (and potentially disastrous from a diplomatic perspective) to not render at least the minimum of assistance by opening up the public medical database.

I'm assuming that the more esoteric data regarding bio-technology and bioweapons delivery systems etc will still be kept behind more strict protection.