Biomedical Ethics for Jehovah’s Witnesses and Patient Blood Management

Abstract

Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions according to religious beliefs, and for this reason, most hospitals and doctors have refused their treatment. There are more than 100,000 religious people in Korea, but there are few bloodless centers that can receive their treatment. So, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses patients visiting bloodless centers in Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital has been increasing every year. Despite this situation, no legal or medical countermeasure has yet been proposed against them. Therefore, I would like to take a bioethical approach based on “principles of biomedical ethics” and introduce “patient blood management” which is currently spreading in advanced medical countries.