Dr. Muramoto, M.D. is a retired board certified neurologist and medical ethicist, as well as a member of the volunteer faculty at the Center for Ethics in Health Care, Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Muramoto, Marvin Shilmer, AJWRB and myself have never claimed that these numbers are anything more than an estimate. Your statement that they are "sensationalized" is patently false. Quite to the contrary - they are conservative. If one were to factor in morbidity in 3rd world/developing countries where a significant percentage of Jehovah's Witnesses are found, these numbers would be much, much higher. Same thing applies to trauma, childbirth and chronic diseases of the blood. The numbers related to childbirth alone are simply staggering, and we will be drawing attention to that in the near future. It is time for the world to cut away the camouflage that is created by Watchtower's organizational structure/compartmentalization and see it for the death cult it truly is.
Lee Elder
JoinedPosts by Lee Elder
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
To Never a JW: No one is disfellowshipped over blood anymore. The WT changed their policy in 2000/2001 in this regard. My guess is that you are looking at an older elder's book. The policy as currently administered includes a recognition that an individual makes it known by his choice to use blood (that is any blood product not currently approved for use) that he is no longer one of JWs, hence disassociation. Same thing that we have with respects to one who joins the military or sends in a letter to the congregation ending his or her participation. You are correct that the elders can make a determination that the person is repentant. That is going to depend on the individuals involved. There are some elders that don't feel its possible to repent from this sin, and probably others like myself who would not have a problem in giving the person a pass.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
Ruby456, et al: I have heavy demands of my time, and declining health. I am going to assume your comments are made in good faith, and do my best to briefly address them. This will, however, be a necessary final attempt.
The references to 150 deaths per year in the U.S. are in fact Dr. Muramoto's. Here is the original estimate that he prepared. In the second paragraph from the bottom, on the right, you will find the numbers in question.
http://ajwrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BloodDeathsMuramoto.pdf
This estimate was prepared by Dr. Muramoto specifically for 2001 annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Francisco. I was present along with about a dozen other members of AJWRB. I continue to be in contact with Dr. Muramoto even though he has retired, and he stands by his estimate, as does AJWRB for a multitude of reasons.
If you feel the need to dig deeper to convince yourself, that is understandable. Here is some additional material that addresses many of these issues related to Kitchens study:
Bear in mind, you are reviewing the work of one of the best experts in this entire field. An author who has been published more times in peer reviewed medical journals than anyone else on this matter. Dr. Muramoto has produced a very, very conservative estimate which is precisely why we use it. It completely ignores all deaths related to the three primary causes of morbidity in JW's related to the blood issue. (Chronic blood disorders, trauma, and child birth). The estimate is certainly on the low side, and the fact that it is reasonable is born out by the study done by Beliaev almost 20 years later. This is actually a much better study for our purpose since it is based strictly on outcome related to anemia.
Clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness of allogeneic red-blood-cell transfusion in severe symptomatic anemia. Beliaev et al. VoxSanguinis 2012 July 103(1):18-24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22150804
A separate analysis and extrapolation performed independently by AJWRB Science Adviser Marvin Shilmer produced the identical mortality factor derived by Dr. Muramoto, namely 0.015% annually. The studies independently validate one another - you can take that to the bank.
As for any notion that Kitchens may have had about mortality and morbidity related to blood, he frankly admits he didn't know. That is not the case now. Its approximately 100:1 - not enough to materially impact our number in any significant way. The following quote in this regard is from Dr. Muramoto's rapid response in the BMJ listed above:
"The risk of blood transfusion was again extensively reviewed in the "Medical Progress" review in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999.[6][7] In this progress review, the overall number of deaths from blood transfusion is estimated between 23 and 44 deaths per million units of blood. These numbers include every complication from blood transfusion, not just short-term mortality as in Sazama's report. The short-term mortality which corresponds to Kitchens' estimate should be smaller than these numbers. Thus, a typical blood transfusion of two units carry the risk of 46 to 88 overall deaths per million patients, or 0.0046 to 0.0084%. If a larger amount of blood is transfused, this risk will increase further, to 0.01 to 0.03%.
The accurate number itself is not as important as the magnitude of the risk. Available data indicates that the mortality of refusing blood is close to one hundred times greater than the mortality of being transfused. In the United States alone, about 1.5% of population has conditions requiring blood transfusion each year according to the statistics of the American Association of Blood Banks. That means about 15,000 of Witnesses in the United States will face such conditions each year. Not all of them need transfusion for major surgeries, but suppose half of them had major surgeries, about 7,500 Witnesses have about 1% of additional mortality according to Kitchens. To put this in perspective, 75 Witnesses are dying each year in the United States alone due to refusal of blood transfusion, whereas only about 0.01% of mortality, or life of less than one Witness, is spared by refusing blood transfusion and avoiding transfusion-related death. We never know the exact number of life lost and life saved by refusing blood transfusion. However we can estimate the magnitude of mortality from this practice with reasonable certainty. If we accumulate the above number over the past thirty years and extend to other countries, "hundreds and thousands of deaths from the blood refusal policy" is not at all an exaggeration."
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
Spoletta: The answer to your question is yes. We had a brother who had Leukemia. Two elders from the Hospital Visitation Committee/Group popped in and found him in the middle of a blood transfusion. They referred back to the congregation which formed a judicial committee. I don't believe they even met with him. I remember one of the elders telling me that he didn't see any way someone who took blood could be repentant because there was no way to take it back. I think he was getting at the whole contamination thing which is probably at the heart of this nonsense. In any even, he was promptly disfellowshipped. I later sat on the judicial committee that reinstated him. These days you don't even get a judicial committee. The act of taking blood is considered like you disassociated yourself. Same way they treat someone who joins the armed services.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
The article was written by Kerry Louderback-Wood when she was a law student. She does not practice tort law. There is a better potential for litigation in Canada and Europe than the U.S.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
Steve 2: The data will stand on its own merits. The use of the Jonestown photo was debated by myself and Richard Kelly. Ultimately we decided that it was a useful example of the terrible consequences of undue influence and coercive control that was well known, unlike the carnage being caused by Watchtower's blood policy. Additionally, it was felt that it was also useful in demonstrating the scale of loss of life. I do appreciate your concern. If this was a piece published specifically for the academic community, we would not have used it.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
Zeb: The basis for Dr. Muramoto's extrapolation is carefully explained and referenced. Read those research articles, do your own research, and see what you come up with. You will find we have presented a very conservative estimate.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
Hello Ruby 456. The calculation you bring up (150 deaths per year) is not mine. Its from Dr. Muramoto, M.D. It refers to deaths during the year 2001, and just in the U.S. where "bloodless medicine" is performed at a advanced level. There were approximately 6 millions JWs worldwide at that time. 150 x 6 = 900 worldwide deaths in 2001, and these are just deaths related to elective surgery without blood. They do not include deaths from trauma, blood disorders or childbirth. Actual numbers are certainly higher. The numbers have been presented at a major medical conference, and carefully reviewed by capable researchers working with AJWRB. They will stand up to scrutiny.
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103
New Research at AJWRB
by Lee Elder inthe latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.
the numbers are staggering.
http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.
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Lee Elder
The latest research article published at AJWRB estimates the number of Jehovah's Witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow Watchtower's blood policy. The numbers are staggering. http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy
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Blood Transfusions/Blood Salvage
by NJ501 inhi all,i've been doing some research on blood transfusions and fractions.
i found out a patient can donate their own blood, so it can be used for elective surgery...i was wondering if theirs really any difference between a blood transfusion of your own blood and the blood salvage procedure.
i think quite similar since its just a re-transfusion of your own blood.. what are your thoughts?
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Lee Elder
For many decades JW's have been using Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution. I tried to find a video of this particular autologous WHOLE blood transfusion but was not able to. Instead I found a brief video demonstrating the "Hemobag" which is essentially the same procedure, and is in fact used on JW patients with the WTS and HLC blessing with a very slight modification. Watch the video for yourself and decide whether or not you think JWs are transfusing whole blood or not.