A Video That Highlights an Important Medical Trend
Legal and health-care professionals are giving increased attention to the ethical views and rights of medical patients. This has promoted new therapies and approaches from which Jehovah’s Witnesses can benefit. (Acts 15:28, 29) That is the focus of the video Transfusion-Alternative Health Care—Meeting Patient Needs and Rights. Watch it, and then review what you learned.—Note: Because the video includes brief surgical scenes, parents should use discretion in viewing the video with young children.
(1) Why is the medical community reevaluating the use of blood transfusions? (2) Give three examples of complex surgeries that are performed without blood transfusions. (3) How many physicians and surgeons worldwide have indicated their willingness to treat patients without blood transfusions? Why are they willing to do so? (4) What have recent hospital studies revealed about blood use? (5) What are the medical risks associated with blood transfusions? (6) What conclusion have many experts reached regarding the benefits of transfusion alternatives? (7) What causes anemia? How tolerable is it in humans? What can be done to compensate for it? (8) How can red-cell production be stimulated in a patient’s body? (9) What techniques are being used to minimize blood loss during surgery? (10) Can transfusion alternatives work for young children or for people involved in life-threatening emergencies? (11) What is one of the primary ethical principles of good medical care? (12) Why is it important for Christians to make nonblood treatment choices in advance? How can we do this?
Acceptance of some treatments featured in the video is a matter for private decision in accord with each one’s Bible-trained conscience. Have you decided which transfusion alternatives you are willing to accept for yourself and your children? Non-Witness family members should also be fully informed of your decisions and the reasons for them.—See “Questions From Readers” in the June 15 and October 15, 2000, issues of The Watchtower.