When the tenets of someone's religion collide with standard medical practice.

When the tenets of someone's religion collide with standard medical practice, doctors are faced with a challenge, said Dana King, a professor of family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina who has done research on the impact of religious faith on physical health.

And it happens more often than one might imagine, he said.

Christian Scientists, who worship at 11 churches throughout South Carolina, including in Myrtle Beach, are just one group with special medical preferences.

Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, forbid blood transfusions which, if performed on a believer, can be grounds for expulsion from the church.

Yet, occasionally a Jehovah's Witness comes to the hospital in need of blood.

"We try to routinely ask people about their religious beliefs," King said. And doctors will make every effort to document those beliefs.

On the other hand, sometimes people rethink their positions when faced with an acute health issue, he noted.

The tendency of the doctor is to treat illness and injury with all available means, but patients have a right to refuse treatment, and medical professionals are obligated to honor patients' wishes, he said.

When the tenets of someone's religion collide with standard medical practice.

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