Jehovah's Witnesses and Blood and Sickle Cell Anemia

[rbrown1205]

I just received this article, regarding blood transfusions of Jehovah's Witnesses with sickle cell anemia. This is

a partial reprint of it::

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http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10117

9:06:04 PM

Jehovah Witness who refused transfusion allowed to die in UK

by Michael Cook | 16 Jun 2012 | 4 comments

tags: informed consent, Jehovah's Witness

Two cases involving Jehovah Witnesses who refused blood transfusions are in the news: a 22-year-old with sickle

cell anaemia who died in the UK and a 4-year-old girl in Australia who lived after a court-ordered transfusion.

In Britain, a 22-year-old man refused a blood transfusion. After consulting lawyers, his doctors decided to respect

his decision and he passed away after about three weeks in hospital. There were concerns that the man's mother, who

was with him when he died, and an elder from his church were exerting an undue influence. However, a doctor

assessed him and declared that he was fully aware of what he was doing.

At the moment there are no substitutes for blood transfusions that can be offered to Jehovah’s Witnesses although

researchers predict that a product will be available in 5 to 10 years.

(see link above for the rest of the article)

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We can be saddened by the news that a brother died after refusing a blood transfusion, and also empathetic

about parents who had the control of their child's care taken from them.

But my concern was that the article reported that there were no treatments that can be offered to Jehovah's

Witnesses for sickle cell anemia. I had previously thought that there were, so I started a bit of research to find

out what they were.

One thing that I found out is that there are two cures for sickle cell disease. The cited article below shows that

a bone marrow transplant, replacing a quarter of the total bone marrow in the body, has been shown to cure a high

percentage of sickle cell patients.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/10/science/la-sci-sickle-cell10-2009dec10

The only problem with this is that it is difficult, almost impossible, to find compatible bone marrow for these

patients, especially patients of African descent, which most who suffer from this disease are.

Also, the other cure is stem cell therapy. It is brand new, and it is controvertial because you can get stem cells

from the harvesting of abortion tissue (there are very recently some possibly more acceptable sources), and it is

currently extremely expensive.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/documents/SCD%20factsheet_What%20is%20SCD.pdf

And here is the WT article, which does not recommend or forbid the treatment on a scriptural basis:

g02 11/22 p. 3 Medical Marvel, Ethical Minefield

The expense of these cures is a really sad thing, since sickle cell disease is running rampant among the poor in

Africa, and blacks in this country often have a lower income than average.

There are two articles from the WT literature that bear on the subject of bone marrow and other tissue transplants,

as to Christian propriety, and they are

w80 3/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers

- Should congregation action be taken if a baptized Christian accepts a human organ transplant, such as of a cornea

or a kidney?

w84 5/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers

- Could a Christian accept a bone-marrow transplant, since blood is made in the marrow?

These basically say that taking a bone marrow transplant, with some care to prevent blood transfer, is a matter of

conscience.

Also, regarding blood transfusions as a treatment, not a cure, for sickle cell, aside from the very important

scriptural issues involved, this medical article also states that blood transfusions can overload the patient's

system with excess iron. So this is not the risk-free treatment that is implied in the above article.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/treatments.html

Very interestingly, this article, which discusses treatments, mentioned one effective treatment that just about

anyone can use when the SCD patient has a "pain crisis" - drinking lots of clean water (3-4 quarts per day), and

taking an NSAID pain reliever such as acetamenophen (Tylenol). The WT article below mentions the exact same

treatment:

g96 10/8 p. 22 Sickle-Cell Anemia—Knowledge Is the Best Defense

Another effective treatment which is not blood involves the use of medicine called hydroxyurea to reduce the number

of pain crises. This wikipedia article (not exactly peer reviewed, but it is quite detailed) describes this

medicine, which is also called hydroxycarbamide:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxycarbamide

Finally, here is another general Frequently Asked Questions page about the disease:

http://scinfo.org/faq/faq-sickle-cell-disease

And here is a WT article on another possible treatment which is still being researched with good results -

perflorochemical artifical blood (there are articles online about it):

g80 2/22 p. 22 “Artificial Blood” Makes Its Debut

Summarizing, there are things that sickle cell disease patients who don't want blood can do to help themselves

without breaking the bank:

Educate themselves - the internet is a great resource

Avoid infections by taking prescribed precautions

Look into new and established treatments with the help of sympathetic medical professionals

Keep drinking lots of water and appropriate pain medication during pain crises

There are undoubtedly Jehovah's Witnesses all over Africa and the US and other places that are managing their sickle cell symptoms, and those doctors who said that they didn't have anything to help that brother may not be aware of these points...?