"Jehovah's Witnesses, Blood Transfusions and the Tort of Misrepresentation", Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, "Jehovah's Witnesses: Official Statement to the Media on Blood Transfusions", "More doctors honor religious objections to blood transfusions", "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. "[122], Osamu Muramoto says the Watch Tower Society relies on discarded, centuries-old medical beliefs to support its assertion that blood transfusions are the same as eating blood. [120], Douglas E. Cowan, an academic in the sociology of religion, has claimed that members of the Christian countercult movement who criticize the Watch Tower Society, make selective use of information themselves. Doctors are bound in their practice by codes of ethics as to their professional conduct. The Watch Tower Society then rescinded the revised document, stating, "After further review, it has been determined that the cards dated "md-E 6/01" and "ic-E 6/01" should not be used. [86] This position has been expanded on since; the pre-formatted Durable Power of Attorney form provided by the Watch Tower Society includes an option for Jehovah's Witnesses to "accept all fractions derived from any primary component of blood. [13] Although accepted by the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority does not endorse this doctrine.[14][15]. {strong images} View options for downloading these results. [91] In 1990, a brochure entitled How Can Blood Save Your Life? [48][49], Hospital Information Services researches medical journals to locate information on the availability and effectiveness of bloodless surgery methods. Putney, Leeann J. The Watch Tower Society has established Hospital Information Services to provide education and facilitate bloodless surgery. He suggests doctors question patients on (a) whether they have considered that the Watch Tower Society might soon approve some medical practices they currently find objectionable, in the same manner that it has previously abandoned its opposition to vaccination and organ transplants; (b) whether Witness patients know which blood components are allowed and which are prohibited, and whether they acknowledge that those rulings are organizational policy rather than biblical teachings; and (c) whether they realize that although some Bible scriptures proscribe the eating of blood, eating and transfusing blood have entirely different effects on the body. Blood donation strictly for purpose of further fractionation of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma for either allogeneic or autologous transfusion. In the lawsuit Geyer filed in Superior Court, he contends he has suffered extreme emotional and physical trauma as a result of the transfusion. Jehovah's Witnesses & blood transfusion. Nearly all Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse transfusions of whole blood (including preoperative autologous donation) and the primary blood components – red cells, … [39][40] In Japan, children under 15 can be administered blood transfusions against their and their parents' wishes, and children between the ages of 15 and 18 can be similarly treated provided they, or at least one of their legal guardians, consent to the procedure. [80] The prohibition did not specify any punitive measures for accepting a transfusion, but by January 1961—in what was later described as an application of "increased strictness"[81]—it was ruled that it was a disfellowshipping offense to conscientiously accept a blood transfusion. [70][71] Watch Tower publications during the presidency of Joseph Franklin Rutherford commended the commercial and emergency uses of blood. FOR JEHOVAH’S WITNESS PATIENTS . [32] As of 2006, there are 1,535 Hospital Liaison Committees worldwide coordinating communication between 110,000 physicians. [111][112][113], Watch Tower spokesman Donald T. Ridley says neither elders nor HLC members are instructed or encouraged to probe into the health care decisions of Witness patients and do not involve themselves in patient hospitalisations unless patients request their assistance. Transfusions of pre-operative self-donated (. In contrast, in the Jewish ethical hierarchy, taking a life was a capital offence (Ex 21:12). In 2002, a Jehovah's Witness student was considering whether or not to have a blood transfusion when she/he slipped into a coma. Individuals vary in their choice and it is important to clearly establish the preference of each patient. Question: "Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions?" [55][56], Since the elaboration of the blood doctrine to the point of prohibiting transfusion, the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses have adopted the organization's position. As a result of Jehovah's witnesses rigorous pursuit of medical alternatives to blood, many cardiac, obstetric and gynaecological, orthopaedic and urological surgeries that traditionally require blood transfusion can now be performed successfully without using blood or blood products. Of these patients, 10 percent accepted whole blood transfusion. There is usually no objection to intraoperative cell salvage (ICS), apheresis, haemodialysis, cardiac bypass or normovolaemic haemodilution providing the equipment is primed with non-blood fluids. "[67], Ambivalence and rejection of the blood doctrine dates back to at least the 1940s. Jehovah’s Witnesses, with at least 7.5 million active members worldwide and around 130 000 in the UK, are the most well-known religious community who decline transfusion of specific blood components. A baptized Witness who unrepentantly accepts a blood transfusion is deemed to have disassociated himself from the group by abandoning its doctrines and is subsequently subject to organized shunning by other members. This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees, whose function is to provide support to adherents. He says loving God means obeying commandments, not disobeying them and hiding one's disobedience from others. [113][115], Muramoto recommends doctors have a private meeting with patients to discuss their wishes, and that church elders and family members not be present, enabling patients to feel free of church pressure. Dissident Witnesses say the Society's use of Leviticus 17:12 to support its opposition to blood transfusions[102][103] conflicts with its own teachings that Christians are not under the Mosaic law. Under Mosaic Law, (Lv 17:15,16), the punishment for breaking the law concerning blood was simply to bathe and wait until evening when you would be considered 'clean'. Please destroy these items and make sure that they are not distributed to the publishers." The reasoning originally give… Lee Elder, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy". Watch Tower Society publications frequently claim negative consequences of blood transfusions: Opposition to the Watch Tower doctrines on blood transfusions has come from both members and non-members. Jehovah’s Witnesses frequently carry a signed and witnessed Advance Decision Document listing the blood products and autologous procedures that are, or are not, acceptable to them. [41] In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that in cases of "an imminent threat to a child's life", physicians in some cases may "intervene over parental objections". At that time she relates that 25 of the 275 Jehovah's Witness prisoners refused to eat blood sausage. 17:10–16) and ‘abstain from the meats offered to idols and from blood’ (Acts 15:28–29) (1–3). [92] Members were instructed to personally decide if accepting a fraction would violate the doctrine on blood. This case echoes the 2017 movie, The Children Act, which is based on an Ian McEwan book. [57] Another peer-reviewed study examining medical records indicated a similar percentage of Jehovah's Witnesses willing to accept blood transfusions for their children. [105][117] He claims Watch Tower Society publications often discuss the risk of death as a result of refusing blood transfusions, but give little consideration to the prolonged suffering and disability, producing an added burden on family and society, that can result from refusal. The following medical procedures are prohibited: The following procedures and products are not prohibited, and are left to the decision of individual members:[27], A variety of bloodless surgical techniques have been developed for use on patients who refuse blood transfusions for reasons that include concern about AIDS, hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections, or immune system reactions. Quality in blood and tissue establishments and hospital blood banks, 3: Care and selection of whole blood and component donors (including donors of pre-deposit autologous blood), 4: Premises and quality assurance at blood donor sessions, 5: Collection of a blood or component donation, 6: Evaluation and manufacture of blood components, 8: Evaluation of novel blood components, production processes and blood packs: generic protocols, 9: Microbiology tests for donors and donations: general specifications for laboratory test procedures, 10: Investigation of suspected transfusion-transmitted infection, 12: Donation testing (red cell immunohaematology), 13: Patient testing (red cell immunohaematology), 14: Guidelines for the use of DNA/PCR techniques in Blood Establishments, 15: Molecular typing for red cell antigens, 21: Tissue banking: tissue retrieval and processing, 23: Specification for the uniform labelling of blood, blood components and blood donor samples, 24: Specification for the uniform labelling of human tissue products using ISBT 128, 25: Standards for electronic data interchange within the UK Blood Transfusion Services, 26: Specification for blood pack base labels, 27: Specification for labelling consumables used in therapeutic product production, Annex 1: Standards available from the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Annex 2: ISBT 128 check character calculation, Annex 5: Blood Components for Contingency Use, Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell, 4: Safe transfusion – right blood, right patient, right time and right place, 6: Alternatives and adjuncts to blood transfusion, 7: Effective transfusion in surgery and critical care, 8: Effective transfusion in medical patients, 9: EFFECTIVE transfusion in obstetric practice, 10: Effective transfusion in paediatric practice, 12: Management of patients who do not accept transfusion, Aide Memoir Interpretations\Clarifications, Principles of the EI Guidance Issued by the MHRA, 12.2: Jehovah’s Witnesses and blood transfusion, Safe transfusion – right blood, right patient, right time and right place, Alternatives and adjuncts to blood transfusion, Effective transfusion in surgery and critical care, Effective transfusion in medical patients, EFFECTIVE transfusion in obstetric practice, Effective transfusion in paediatric practice, Management of patients who do not accept transfusion, Anxiety about the risks of blood transfusion, Jehovah’s Witnesses and blood transfusion, Mental competence and refusal of transfusion, http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/publications/docs/jehovahs_witness.html. 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