Jehovah's Witness mother dies after refusing blood

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Kristina - back in old day, it was bad... but nowadays - it's more stringent. More screening, better regulation. My friend's mom had emergency transfusion and she got Hep C too. That was long long long time ago. Now - haven't heard of anybody with tainted blood via blood transfusion. the cases are not as bad as before.
 
My cousin's younger son, just 5 years ago, had to have a transfusion, got HIV and was so distraught at age 16 over this, he committed suicide. My cousin was a nurse at the hospital that did the transfusion. She quit and is now a teacher. She is also suing the hospital and blood bank that provided the blood.
 
KristinaB said:
My cousin's younger son, just 5 years ago, had to have a transfusion, got HIV and was so distraught at age 16 over this, he committed suicide. My cousin was a nurse at the hospital that did the transfusion. She quit and is now a teacher. She is also suing the hospital and blood bank that provided the blood.
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Lord, that's tragic!
 
He had been in an accident involving his quad-runner on their property in Wisconsin next to the Minnesota border. Was air-lifted to the hospital where cousin worked as a nurse. She obviously was not allowed on his case, but she was there. He had to have 4 units of blood and survived the accident. He had been home for about 3 weeks before killing himself with a gun in the basement.

They sold the house and moved into another they owned in town and tore down the old house and built a new one for sale. Her husband is a contractor and builder. They are building a new cabin on their property in Wisconsin and giving it to their other son.

My cousin is doing pretty well, all things considered.
 
KristinaB said:
My cousin's younger son, just 5 years ago, had to have a transfusion, got HIV and was so distraught at age 16 over this, he committed suicide. My cousin was a nurse at the hospital that did the transfusion. She quit and is now a teacher. She is also suing the hospital and blood bank that provided the blood.
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FYI once the hospital receives the blood into their blood bank, it has already been deemed safe for administration. Whether or not it was safe or not, the distributing institution IE Red Cross is accountable for that. FDA, federal and state laws do not require hospital to rescreen a received unit of transfusion blood before administration. In addition there are more serious immidiate transfusion reactions that can occur acutely from a transfused unit of blood. This is the area where the hospital and/or staff are accountable for safely verifying the appropriate blood and close monitoring during transfusion. Aside from proper verification of correct unit of blood (type and unit #) the laboratory must check for any rare antibodies on a patient's blood cells. Those appropriate units of blood to correctly match any special anitbodies are usually obtained rapidly via separate blood bank within the region. One night a couple years ago we had a patient with such special individualized blood cells we had to fly in blood from Chicago that very night. And ALWAYS with these special cases of patients even closer monitoring for transfusion reactions must take place.
 
KristinaB said:
The reason I will never ever allow myself or my children to have blood transfusions is:

Back in the 1980's before they tested for anything other than HIV/AIDS, my mother had to have a transfusion due to a massive blood loss due to an infection caused by issues in the hospital after a simple D&C. A few years later, during a routine physical for insurance through her employer, she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Here, almost 20 years later, mom is still somewhat okay, but we found lst year during a different medical crisis, she now has cirrohsis of the liver due to the Hep C she got from the transfusion. she is going through the beginning stages of dementia, going through liver failure and since the surgery to her leg a year ago, we still have to bandage little sores that pop up weekly. I have a full pharmacy of antibiotic creams, bandages and latex-free gloves all to take care of my mother. I have the red infectious disease bags for her bandages and have to take it to the doctor's office weekly to dispose of. All because of a simple 1 unit of blood from a transfusion. I will never subject my children to any possibility of this horror. They already have to help me at times with my mother.
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I'm very sorry for what happened to your mom. A very similar thing happened to my mom. In 1967, she had a hysterectomy and blood transfusion. About 25 years later, she was dead from Hepatitis C cirrhosis of the liver. :(
 
My best friend is a JW, and no she won't do the transfusion. It's against her religious beliefs (what they believe is similar to what Jewish people believe when they won't eat anything that is not kosher). I hope she planned on backing up her own blood (and her children) while they are healthy.

The best thing you can do is work your way around them, and do more scientific studies that will work for them. I don't like it when children are taken away because of religious beliefs. It is very hard on them, and my best friend care and love her children very much.
 
KristinaB said:
My cousin's younger son, just 5 years ago, had to have a transfusion, got HIV and was so distraught at age 16 over this, he committed suicide. My cousin was a nurse at the hospital that did the transfusion. She quit and is now a teacher. She is also suing the hospital and blood bank that provided the blood.
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oh my........ I'm sorry to hear that..
 
I have a good friend who's a JW. She told me that they are very against blood transfusions because they believe blood to be very sacred. They believe it is not to be eaten or transferred. This is also part of the reason why reading "Twilight" (because of the vampires) is prohibited, but she read it anyway.

Rockin': I have a feeling that my friend is on the same path as your friend. She seems to pick and choose what she does and doesn't follow (if some of the stuff I know she's done was released to her congregation, I'm sure they would give her a pretty long lecture). However, she is VERY knowledgeable on her religion and believes strongly in it. Your friend knew that if/when she abandoned her congregation that her JW friends and family would disown her because of what is called "disfellowshipping". Usually they will shun the member that has abandoned them.
 
hohDougRN said:
Here in Salt Lake City at University of Utah we have been doing field clinical trials of what you called "special water transfusion" We call this "Polyheme" and showing some very promising results especially in acute traumas with severe blood loss. Also another one being studied is called "hemopure"....Im not sure if this one is in Canada too. Anyway I do not know of any from Europe, so I will have to do more research to get answers.
We frequently encounter patients who are JW and sometimes is very frustrating when they are critically ill in regards to severe anemia and you have to understand and respect their beliefs. That being said, there are more alternatives to transfusions and I find that Doctor's order Blood transfusions a little too much when probably 50% of time will not affect mortalty or even worsen the patients' conditions. Blood products are often a "quick fix" to an acute, or even chronic problem. Alternatives are slower to work and not quite as effective.

Sorry, I know to much blah blah blah :blah:, my appologies.
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No worries, I understand perfectly. :) From what I remember Polyheme has been in clinical trials for about 2-3 years now?? I'm glad to know it's still showing promising results, but we need to see if there are any long term effects a patient might have that may or may not show until years after use of polyheme. Specifically in those such as Jehova's Witness and Mormons who commonly refuse blood transfusions due to their faith.

If Polyheme is a success and receives nods from the FDA for more widespread use, this could be a lifesaver for patients who are universal donors but not universal recipients. This would also be beneficial in major MCIs.
 
Dixie said:
No worries, I understand perfectly. :) From what I remember Polyheme has been in clinical trials for about 2-3 years now?? I'm glad to know it's still showing promising results, but we need to see if there are any long term effects a patient might have that may or may not show until years after use of polyheme. Specifically in those such as Jehova's Witness and Mormons who commonly refuse blood transfusions due to their faith.

If Polyheme is a success and receives nods from the FDA for more widespread use, this could be a lifesaver for patients who are universal donors but not universal recipients. This would also be beneficial in major MCIs.
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It is not practice for Mormons to refuse any blood products. :)
 
KristinaB said:
The reason I will never ever allow myself or my children to have blood transfusions is:
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I am afraid you are ethically and morally wrong, given the data we have now.

You just rather have your child die just because you're so worried about him getting hep C or HIV even though the odds of getting it is remarkably low and the benefits outweigh the risks inherent in blood transfusion?

And EVEN if your own child gets Hep C or HIV, it doesn't mean death sentence for him... there are quite a lot of people cured of Hep C thanks to new drugs and now, AIDS death is being less common thanks to HAART therapies - HIV+ people are now expected to live for 30+ years, not within 10 years in the old days.
 
hohDougRN said:
It is not practice for Mormons to refuse any blood products. :)
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My apologies if I offended, I thought I was told once that Mormons also do not accept blood transfusions for the same reason as JWs.
 
Oh Dixie, no worries I don't think you offended any, at least not me if that makes ya feel any better :)
 
netrox said:
I am afraid you are ethically and morally wrong, given the data we have now.
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Whether you think she is ethically/morally wrong, legally she is right in her own way. She is the mother of her own child.

You are not the parent.
 
choices are for anyone's own desires and preferences, not me or not anyone's.
 
lumbingmi said:
The green is greener in Heaven than other side. :cool:
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They're not in Heaven. JWs only believe in paradise on earth, not heaven. They're taught only the 144,000 anointed JWs can go to heaven, the rest stays here.
 
Mrs Bucket said:
Whether you think she is ethically/morally wrong, legally she is right in her own way. She is the mother of her own child.

You are not the parent.
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Not if it involves endangering a life of a minor. She can decide that for her own life, but not for her child's life.
 
netrox said:
I am afraid you are ethically and morally wrong, given the data we have now.

You just rather have your child die just because you're so worried about him getting hep C or HIV even though the odds of getting it is remarkably low and the benefits outweigh the risks inherent in blood transfusion?

And EVEN if your own child gets Hep C or HIV, it doesn't mean death sentence for him... there are quite a lot of people cured of Hep C thanks to new drugs and now, AIDS death is being less common thanks to HAART therapies - HIV+ people are now expected to live for 30+ years, not within 10 years in the old days.
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My decision is based on fact and after careful consideration with all doctors my children have had. There is nothing wrong my ethical or moral [practices. I seek medical attention for them when needed, but as far as transfusions, due to history both in the 80's and in 2004, I will not subject them to that. All of the doctors I have consulted regarding that understand my position and for the most part agree. My children are 14 & 15 and understand the risks. If they should decide to do otherwise after they are 18, that is their right. It is NOT for other people to tell me that I am morally and ethically wrong.

I am sorry you feel this way, but as I said before, I make this decision for my self and my children, not for other people. I am not asking for others to believe the way I do, but I feel I have legitimate concerns.
 
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