How Dangerous are Blood Transfusions really?

by TheWonderofYou 33 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  TheWonderofYou

  Between January 1979 and July 1989, 15 children of Jehovah's Witnesses underwent corrective open surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) under the supervision of Prof. Gomobtz. So it was he who implemented open heart surgery with J.W. children in Austria (Graz and Linz) and later he had 100s of J.W. patients who unterwent surgery. Prof. Gomotz is called "pioneer for less application of foreign blood (bloodless surgery)." The hospital Linz today needs 70 % less blood bottles than 10 years before. The department of Anasthesesiology of Linz is the oldest in the germanspeaking area. http://www.linz.at/presse/2014/201403_72667.asp

  He emerated as head of the hospital but is active in the field of scientific research on the transfusion medicine and education. His expertise makes him an expert in this field obvioulsy not only in Austria but as well in Europe. Therefore it is clear that he is scientific leader of the EU-Project.

  The new head of the department in Linz is Univ.Prof. Dr. Jens Meier who changed from university hospital Tübingen to Linz. The same Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen where Prof. Gombotz was active in scientific research too.
  

  Referring the above mentioned open surgery with children here the abstract

  Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1876516
  

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  Prof. Gomotz was cited in Der Standard 2013: "Each patient in each hospital should be treated like a J.W.“

  http://derstandard.at/1363706272043/Jeder-Patient-sollte-wie-ein-Zeuge-Jehovas-behandelt-werden

  Excerpt
  

  NEW POSSIBLITES

  "For the majority of operations additional blood is not required. Members of Jehovah's Witnesses would therefore only be rejected if it was a question of "borderline cases" in which the blood loss had been too large or multiple diseases.

  The blood-saving alternatives to blood transfusions seem not only for many operations to be possible - even individual studies came to the conclusion that Jehovah's Witnesses interventions survived more frequently than patients receiving blood transfusions.

  At the heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in the US about were 1983-2011 a total of 322 JWs surgery – patients mainly underwent predominantly bypass and valve replacement surgery. Ten deaths were reported by the hospital - 3.1 percent less than in the comparison group.

  TOO MANY BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

  Regardless of fact that avoiding a blood transfusion can have a postitive affect to the course of disease, blood products are used too many times: Two years ago a study by the Health Ministry (Austria) came to the conclusion that only every second blood bottle is really necessary in Austria“

  The rest of the text deals with frequency of deaths, Prof. Gomotz, said that it that would happen „very seldom“ and that the patients decision would be respected and how in this extrem situation the process is handled in Austria.

  http://derstandard.at/1363706272043/Jeder-Patient-sollte-wie-ein-Zeuge-Jehovas-behandelt-werden
• 

  TheWonderofYou

  AIT is the economic operator of the project „Good Good Practices in the Field of Blood Transfusion“

  The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology has been awarded a contract to develop "Good Practices in the Field of Blood Transfusion" by the Consumers, Health and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) of the European Commission. AIT will be joined by a group of three leading experts to jointly develop an "EU Guide for Member States on Good Practices for Patient Blood Management (EU-PBM)". http://www.pressetext.com/news/20140321006

  Here is a link to the offical EU-project description from the Austrian Institut of Technology AIT

  http://lisavienna.at/en/news/ait-european-patient-blood-management-pbm-project-started

  Definition and Rationale of Patient Blood Management PBM is a multidisciplinary concept that primarily focuses on patient safety by (1) consequently avoiding and/or treating anaemia, (2) minimising blood loss and bleeding and (3) optimising the physiological reserve of anaemia. Studies have shown that this comprehensive strategy significantly minimises the use of allogeneic blood products and therefore reduces their adverse effects on patient outcome. It has also been demonstrated that PBM saves costs for health care systems.
  The main objectives of the project are

  
  1st to study and map blood use for different medical specialities,

  2nd to identify and describe regional and national differences in blood utilisation and PBM strategies,

  3rd to identify good practices in PBM and

  4th to develop an EU guide on good practices for PBM.
  

  This guide, which targets healthcare professionals, has to be applicable in different hospital settings and to include an evaluation strategy by using key indicators.
  The project team is led by Prof. Dr. Hans Gombotz, Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at the General Hospital in Linz, Austria. He has been a pioneer in developing the PBM concept over the past decade, including two ground breaking studies on the practice of blood transfusion in Austria.

  
  Since AIT, with its leading experts Dr. Günter Schreier and Peter Kastner, already served as a Contract Research Organisation in these two preceding projects it is also in a good position to serve as the prime contractor in the EU PBM project, taking responsibility for project and information management as well as biostatistics.
  Further members of the core project team are Prof. Dr. Dr. Kai Zacharowski, FRCA, (Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt) and Dr. Axel Hofmann (Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Zürich and School of Surgery, University of Western Australia).

  EU-Contract Details : Tender report showing contract has been awarded on 27.11.2013.
  

  http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:5706-2014:TEXT:EN:HTML

  Oviously the project runs since 3/2014 30 months until this year. PERTHNEWS reported about the project too. Estimated project costs about € 300,000 10 % of the Australian sum.

  (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-hospitals-patient-blood-management-program-needs-independent-review/story-fnhocxo3-1226930290640)

  Under the 30-month EU contract, AIT has to develop pilot programs in five teaching hospitals, each with a minimum of 750 beds, that have “no or moderate’’ implementation of PBM. Initially, the project team must do a “baseline evaluation’’ of patient outcomes and transfusion risk and blood use at each hospital.
  The team also has to do an overall evaluation of the pilots after a year, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the program.

  Eu Joint Action No 676969 under EU Health Programme

  Joint Action Vigiliance and Inspection for the Safety of Transfusion started 2015. € 2. 328.664.-

  http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/projects/database.html?prjno=676969
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Blood transfusions can only get safer. They are carried out by highly qualified people.

  And let's not forget, when you've suffered an appalling injury and are bleeding like a stuck pig, blood transfusions are f**king fantastic.
• 

  TheWonderofYou

  Thanks for all your comments. In case you are interested to have more details.

  In these videos Englewood is portrayed as leading hospital in the world for care of J.w. patients and situation in Europa and J.W. Have you already watched?

  1. Englewood and J.W. (2013)

  2. Europe and J.W. (2012)

  Shander sayed (at 2:00) "at the same time this community has advanced medicine in many ways, cause of their refusion of transfusion and the community (J.W.) has changed the face of transfusion medicine as well as blood conservation for all patients not just for the witnesses".

  15 years Blood Management in Englewood hospital

  2015: closing words of Dr.Shander at PSSA "We have to eliminate anemia. By eliminating anemia you could see we make the world a better place. By eliminating anemia we can also reduce patients' exposure to Transfusion and alleginatee blood".

  Thanks go to J.W.!

  I am joking now: Looks like Jehovah is going to restore his blemished reputation by means of the blood management and his servants are assisting him in his goal to make the world a better place for J.W. and all others.His name will vindicated as Rutherford said.

  Note that Jehovah does this in due time before the great tribulation and Armageddon, in our time Jehovah yanks around his chariot for the last time and his servants get into the text books of bloodless science! We are witnesses of his great blessing. He does this because of his love for us, to make the world a better place before Armageddon and mainly for the good reputation of his people which can be helpful in this "strange" (Rutherford) bible teaching work.

  As J. always hated use of blood he now demonstrated to the whoooole woooorld how reasonable the Governing body's decision to forbid transfusion in the 60's (?) was.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c67fsFx5_3c

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDg69rJ36OA
  
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  konceptual99

  Most if not all surgical procedures involve risks to a patient, however the transfusion of one person's venous blood into another individual, presents various risks which the National Health Service in the U.K. acknowledge and address via their website for health professionals, SERIOUS HAZARDS of TRANSFUSION. (S.H.O.T.)
  http://www.shotuk.org/

  Very interesting site with a very interesting report.

  http://www.shotuk.org/wp-content/uploads/SHOT-2015-Annual-Report-Web-Edition-Final-bookmarked.pdf

  Basically there were 26 deaths that had at best a possible cause of death related to a blood transfusion. That is across the UK in a year with 2.5 million instances of blood being issued.

  The report is very detailed and shows that many of these issues and reported errors were due to human error not a biological issue with the blood or procedure.

  Of course this is a very simplistic cherry pick of some figures but no worse than the highly selective and biased reporting the WT does. They leverage the ignorance of people to induce fear whilst watering down their own doctrine with illogical positions on how blood should be treated.

  The blood doctrine and it's disingenuous, hypocritical application by the WTS disgusts me. They pressurise people into compliance with a potentially life threatening doctrine yet do not have the moral integrity to even be consistent in how they approach the subject.

  The blood of many innocents is on the hands of each the GB members who have consistently pushed this hypocrisy forward and it saddens me that so few will ever awake to this realisation.
• 

  slimboyfat

  Even though blood transfusions can sometimes be dangerous, they can also be extremely vital. In this country there was a scandal about haemophiliacs getting HIV from contaminated donated blood. I heard a discussion of the problem on the radio and one of the clinicians said that unfortunately for some time the choice was to give blood products that were probably contaminated or no blood at all to these patients. No clearly safe supply of blood was available at the time. Yet despite the terrible consequences for many haemophiliacs who caught HIV and died, they still reckon that overall more lived longer than if they took no blood products at all. In general doctors don't give blood or blood products unless necessary. So even when risks are very high, treatment with blood and blood products can still be better than no treatment. That's an extreme example where the risk was high. In general the risks associated with blood transfusion have been reduced.
• 

  TheWonderofYou

  Literature including free papers

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  http://www.europe-pbm.eu/references

  European Project team

  _____

  Shannon Farmer is in the European project team in the expert panel. Hofmann, Gombotz, Zacharowsky and Meier (successor of Gombotz in hospital Linz) in the medical core team. One new 2015 publication of

  http://www.europe-pbm.eu/projectteam

  Publication of Farmer and Hofmann (2015) "A Programmatic Approach to Patient Blood Management – Reducing Transfusions and Improving Patient Outcomes"

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  http://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOATJ/TOATJ-9-6.pdf

  Tasks

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• 

  TheWonderofYou

  OrphanCrow:

  There was as newspaper that argued Shannon Farmer and Hofmann were no medical doctors 2014.

  http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-hospitals-patient-blood-management-program-needs-independent-review/story-fnhocxo3-1226930290640

  This was not correct information. Dr. Hofmann's promotion was in 2012. He completed his medical study at the "Medizinische Fakultät der Universität Duisburg-Essen" and holds the title Dr. rer. medic, ME, So he is expert in both disciplines and e.g. visiting professor in the Department of Anesthesiology Zurich.

  Gratulation!
• 

  Finkelstein

  One can not expect the WTS to tell the exact and accurate truth concerning Blood transfusions. they never have and they most likly never will.
  

  This organization made a bad interpretation of the ancient Hebraic law of the use of blood which was a strictly a dietary consuming law due the assuming sacredness of blood to their understanding.

  BTS have saved millions of lives since its inception as medical procedure, it has also had its certain problems as well.
  
• 

  TheWonderofYou

  HLC working on dangerous terrain as life saviors. A comment you have certainly already tripped over by a HLC member.

  However, I understand that we are working in a very dangerous field because of so many contradictions in our blood doctrine. Personally I suffer and often work with a deep feeling of guilt, particularly when our brothers need to go through unnecessary pain and death. I can personally testify to about 4 deaths of our brothers, where they could have been saved. How? These brothers and sisters could have been saved if available alternative treatment approved by the Society had been used. But why did they not use it? The doctors could not use the treatments because the Witness patients objected on the grounds that the treatments contained fractions of human blood. These patients were not able to explain why the Society approves these treatments, but after the HLC explained to the brothers, and the doctors, the Society's position - they agreed. Sadly, in these 4 cases I have been through, the patients died because the necessary treatment was used too late.

  http://watchtower-blood.org/basics/hlc.shtml