My ex husband refused a transfusion even though he had been disfellowshipped for 25 years. He had severe internal bleeding due to Chrons disease, his hemoglobin was down to three, a very dangerous level. Unfortunately the Watchtower does a really good job of making transfusion seem much more dangerous than they are and they also make it seem like a worse sin than sexual immorality. As we have seen, many people are affected by the teachings long after they have stopped associating, cult mind control at work.
New Zealand News: Jehovah's Witness dies after refusing blood transfusion
by AndersonsInfo 28 Replies latest watchtower medical
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Simon
I'm not trying to excuse failures by the hospital workers involved but I do have some sympathy for the issue caused by the 'witness' - surely they bear some responsibility for not mentioning it again during the talk with the surgeon if it was so important?
Also, it shows the impact their choices can have on other people - the surgeon had to leave another operation to return to the patient instead of continuing while they were given blood. This could possibly have impacted the other patient.
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flipper
To quote Steve 2 " the woman was no longer a Witness but refused blood. " And therein lies the main issue in my opinion even before the doctors started operating. This woman's mind was so previously manipulated and controlled by WT dogma that even AFTER no longer being a JW she went ahead and allowed the WT Society to dictate what she did with her life - and it cost her her life. Her mind was so messed up by WT teachings - but even after leaving WT Society still had control of her actions. That's why in this instance I still put the blame on the WT Society because think about it- how many DFEd or ex-JW's are running around out there STILL OBEYING what the WT Society says about either no blood transfusions or any other WT teaching they were given ? That is HOW DEEP WT mind control goes. A person can even be OUT of the organization- and they still lead their life like they are IN the organization.
Granted - I agree that in the short term view right off the get go- the surface view- yes- the surgeons and doctors were irresponsible by not checking the medical files and paperwork to see that this lady requested no blood be given her- but what I'm saying is the ball had been dropped years before by the lady herself in exiting the WT organization due to the fact that mentally she was still allowing the WT Society to control her actions. And THAT is what in truth caused her to die in the first place. My 2 cents
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prologos
As an earlier, knowledgeable poster mentioned, the massive post-op bleeding was internal, undeteccted, even a transfusion would not have helped, unless THAT situation, - with the doctor already working on another patient- would have been caught in time.
people die even with blood transfusions. let's reserve them for the really big emergencies, keep the doctors on their toes. not use the transfusion as a panacea.
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steve2
Just to be clear: This was one of 3 deaths due to negligence by the surgeon. The status of his third victim, this ex-JW woman who refused blood - is really incidental. The surgeon was also reported by colleagues to have had near misses -again due to poor preparation, including brief and hurried meetings with patients.
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Hoffnung
it has been noted before that doctors who need blood transfusions during routine operations, are usually butchers, which should not be trusted with a scalpel. this one seems a real bad one.
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talesin
Well, that's one less malpracticing "doctor" - I guess his colleauges could no longer cover up his incompetence. Good riddance!
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smiddy
Many people leave the religion but sadly the religion never leaves them.
smiddy
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steve2
Hoffnung, talesin and smiddy - all spot-on comments.