This was in the paper tonight:
VANCOUVER - The family of a Jehovah's Witness who died from blood loss during surgery in Chilliwack General Hosptial has had its claim for compensation rejected by the B.C. Supreme Court although negligence was a factor in her death. Daphine Hobbs, a 35 year old mother of three infants died April 16, 1996 after a hysterectomy performed by obstetrician Dr. John Robertson. Before the operation, she had signed a waiver saying she didn't want to receive a blood transfusion at any time during the process. Had the operation gone noramally, she could have expected to lose a small quantity of blood but at the end of surgery she had lost 4 litres---most of her circulating blood volume. In a judgement handed down Tuesday, Justice Ian Pitfield found that by signing the waiver she had relinquished all rights to compensation; it releases the hospital and physicians "from any responsibility whatsoever for unfavourable reactions or complications or any untoward results, which may include death, due to my refusal to permit the use of blood or its derivatives." ....Robertson commenced surgery shortly after noon and decided to finish the hysterectomy vaginally. At about 2:30pm, although his patient was losing blood & he had discussed with colleagues the option of coverting to an open abdominal procedure, he decided not to do so because he felt the bleeding was slowing down. He didn't attempt the abdominal procedure until 3:30pm by which time the patient had lost more than half her circulating blood volume. Robertson admitted he should have performed that procedure at 2:30pm. While recognizing there had been negligence during surgery resulting in blood loss, Pitfield found the fatal effects could have been overcome if the medical team could have made use of blood transfuions to stablize Hobbs. Ernest Hobbs was told by doctors that his wife would die if she didn't receive transfusions but he would not go against his wife's wishes and religious convictions and refused his consent.
While there's no doubt the doctor was negligent, there's also no doubt that a blood transfusion would have saved this woman's life. And now the family can't even have the miserable comfort of monetary compensation because of the wording that the brain-dead fools at Bethel force everyone to sign and 3 young children were left with no mother thanks to the bureaucracy crap at headquarters.....I'm going in for surgery next week and dare's no way I'm signing anything of the kind.
I wouldn't be surprised if in the not-too-distant future, they re-worded the Blood Cards yet again.........surely New Light from Jehovah....again