Death, Cadavers and Post-mortem Biomedical Research: A Point of View from a Christian Community

Objective The objective of this study was to examine the religious/spiritual beliefs of followers of the five major world religions about frequently encountered medical situations at the end of life (EoL). Method This was a systematic review of observational studies on the religious aspects of commonly encountered EoL situations. The databases used for retrieving studies were: Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Observational studies, including surveys from healthcare providers or the general population, and case studies were included for review. Articles written from a purely theoretical or philosophical perspective were excluded. Results Our search strategy generated 968 references, 40 of which were included for review, while 5 studies were added from reference lists. Whenever possible, we organized the results into five categories that would be clinically meaningful for palliative care practices at the EoL: advanced directives, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, physical requirements (artificial nutrition, hydration, and pain management), autopsy practices, and other EoL religious considerations. A wide degree of heterogeneity was observed within religions, depending on the country of origin, level of education, and degree of intrinsic religiosity. Significance of results Our review describes the religious practices pertaining to major EoL issues and explains the variations in EoL decision making by clinicians and patients based on their religious teachings and beliefs. Prospective studies with validated tools for religiosity should be performed in the future to assess the impact of religion on EoL care.

show abstract

“…A survey of French Catholics found that about a fifth of this population are opposed to autopsy of close relatives (Charlier et al, 2013). …”

Section: Autopsy Practices (Table 4)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The religions most often practiced by respondents were Christianity and Islam. The doctrines of these two religions are not formally opposed to the practice of autopsy [14][15][16]. However, they insist on the respectful treatment of bodies [17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic Autopsy in the Republic of Benin: Knowledge and Perceptions of Relatives of the Deceased

Egnonwa¹,

Agnes²,

Anthelme³

et al. 2022

CAJPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to describe the knowledge of relatives of the deceased regarding forensic autopsy and to analyze their perceptions of this forensic act. The focus of the study was the relatives of deceased individuals who died in violent contexts or suffered suspicious deaths, in which case a forensic autopsy was necessary. A total of 109 people were included in the study. The majority of respondents were male (78.0%). The average age of respondents was 46 +/-11 years. A total of 56.9% of respondents had never heard the expression "medico-legal autopsy" before the death of the relative. Respondents know. that autopsies are used to identify the cause of death in 80.7% of cases. An association was found between level of education and level of knowledge concerning forensic autopsies (p=0.001). A total of 85.3% of respondents had poor perceptions of forensic autopsy. The preservation of bodily integrity was more important than the benefits of knowing the cause of death for 57.8% of respondents. Respondents claimed that family members made at least one attempt to postpone the autopsy in 94.5% of cases. Objections to the autopsy were motivated by the fear of not being able to proceed quickly with the burial (93.6%), the fear of seeing the body undergo an aesthetic alteration (74.3%), the feeling of inflicting suffering on the deceased (45.3%) and the conception of autopsy as a practice prohibited by respondents' religion (38.5%). The cultural and human dimensions of forensic autopsy should not be overlooked. For more support from the relatives of the deceased, it is essential to integrate, beyond medicine and law, social considerations and human.

show abstract

“…Il s'agit donc là d'une situation idéale. Quand on interroge les communautés religieuses sur la façon avec laquelle il faut traiter les morts [17], y compris les morts très anciens, il apparaît très souvent cette nécessité de remettre en terre. De ré-enfouir.…”

Section: Article Abstractunclassified

Le délicat problème des restes humains en archéologie

Charlier

2019

bioethics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The problem I am interested in is above all that of the biomedical management of human remains in archaeology, these ancient artifacts “unlike any other”, these “atypical patients”. In the following text, I will examine, with an interdisciplinary perspective (anthropological, philosophical and medical), how it is possible to work on human remains in archaeology, but also how to manage their storage after study. Working in archaeology is already a political problem (in the Greek sense of the word, i.e., it literally involves the city), and one could refer directly to Laurent Olivier’s work on the politics of archaeological excavations during the Third Reich and the spread of Nazi ideology based on excavation products and anthropological studies. But in addition, working on human remains can also pose political problems, and we paid the price in my team when we worked on Robespierre’s death mask (the reconstruction of the face having created a real scandal on the part of the French far left) but also when we worked on Henri IV’s head (its identification having considerably revived the historical clan quarrel between Orléans and Bourbon). Working on human remains is therefore anything but insignificant.

show abstract

Death, Cadavers and Post-mortem Biomedical Research: A Point of View from a Christian Community

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions

A systematic review of religious beliefs about major end-of-life issues in the five major world religions

Forensic Autopsy in the Republic of Benin: Knowledge and Perceptions of Relatives of the Deceased

Le délicat problème des restes humains en archéologie

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About