Abstract:This paper provides a brief history of the evolution of the Jehovah's Witness faith with a short discussion on the biblical justification for followers' refusal of blood transfusions. It also briefly considers the ethical principles leading to potential conflicts between health care workers and Jehovah's Witnesses patients and examines several significant legal rulings in the United States and Canada that caregivers should be aware of. A discussion of what blood products are and are not currently acceptable is… Show more
“…For JW patients, blood components such as albumin, clotting factors, or HBOCs are treated as "conscience" items by the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society; individual patients are generally permitted to decide for themselves on the acceptability of these "secondary" blood components (in contrast to "primary" blood components, such as RBCs, platelets, and plasma). 19 For this reason, the patient and the physician must engage in a detailed discussion of the product itself, what it is composed of, how it is manufactured, the risks involved with its use, and the proposed benefits, so the patient may make an individualized decision regarding the acceptability of HBOCs.…”
Early recognition of the need and ready familiarity with its properties on the part of the physician are critical to the utilization of HBOC-201 in a safe and timely fashion.
“…For JW patients, blood components such as albumin, clotting factors, or HBOCs are treated as "conscience" items by the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society; individual patients are generally permitted to decide for themselves on the acceptability of these "secondary" blood components (in contrast to "primary" blood components, such as RBCs, platelets, and plasma). 19 For this reason, the patient and the physician must engage in a detailed discussion of the product itself, what it is composed of, how it is manufactured, the risks involved with its use, and the proposed benefits, so the patient may make an individualized decision regarding the acceptability of HBOCs.…”
Early recognition of the need and ready familiarity with its properties on the part of the physician are critical to the utilization of HBOC-201 in a safe and timely fashion.
“…When asked about types of transfusion procedures, five (20%) JW patients agreed to utilize preoperative autologous blood donation (PAD), which contradicts the previous notion that PAD was not acceptable. 2 Almost 80% of the JWs agreed to be involved in acute normovolemic hemodilution, cardiopulmonary bypass, hemodialysis, or plasmapheresis, if required. All respondents agreed to utilize intraoperative cell salvage, which strengthens the previous notion that JWs are more willing to accept procedures that have continuous extracorporeal circuits.…”
“…To transfuse a Jehovah's Witness in the face of her explicit instructions to the contrary would, in my opinion, violate her right to control her own body and show disrespect for the religious values by which she has chosen to live her life ([7], p. 419).…”
Section: The Argument From “Extreme Existential Need”mentioning
This article is a response to a survey on moral reasoning among Swiss health professionals that appeared in a recent issue of this journal. The authors of that survey inquired whether or not their respondents would give a blood transfusion to a Jehovah's Witness patient who clearly refused it. A substantial number of the respondents answered that they would override the patient's refusal and give the transfusion. The present article examines the two ethical rationales that were offered to explain the overriding respondents' answers and argues that neither one is ethically acceptable. It concludes with an account of the phenomenon of "motivated reasoning" that, so it is argued, better explains why the overriders would refuse to honor the Jehovah's Witness patient's transfusion refusal.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
