Hi Folks.
Spotted this.
Coroner condemns Jehovah's Witness blood transfusion rules after follower's hospital death
12h ago12 hours ago
Heather Winchester, who died in 2019, with her grandson. ( Supplied: Elizabeth MacIntyre)
In short:
The NSW Deputy State Coroner has found a Jehovah's Witness bled to death in hospital after refusing blood in 2019.
He
said instructions written by the organisation in America did not take
into account when acceptable blood products were not available and
"should not be used at all".
What's next:
The coroner made 14 recommendations, including that surgical teams read a patient's clinical notes before operating.
Link copied
A
deputy state coroner has recommended Jehovah's Witnesses stop relying
on the organisation's "misleading" blood-refusal guidance after a
follower bled to death.
Heather Winchester, 75, died from complications after hysterectomy surgery at a NSW hospital in September 2019.
Mrs
Winchester lost more than a litre of blood after the elective surgery
at Maitland Hospital and was urgently transferred to Newcastle's John
Hunter Hospital.
The 75-year-old refused a blood transfusion on religious grounds.
NSW Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil on Wednesday found she bled to death when her organs failed.
Mr O'Neil said a blood transfusion could have saved her life but Mrs Winchester rejected the procedure in her care plan.
"In
order for an individual to become baptised (as a) Jehovah's Witness,
they must not accept a transfusion of whole blood and the main
components are to be refused as a violation of God's law," he said.
Heather and her husband John Winchester. (Supplied: Elizabeth MacIntyre )
Work sheets condemned
Before
her surgery, Mrs Winchester had also spoken to doctors about work
sheets parishioners were given by the church outlining unacceptable
blood products.
Mr O'Neil said
blood substitutes deemed acceptable in the document were non-human donor
haemoglobin and artificial haemoglobin, but this left Mrs Winchester's
doctors in a bind.
"There were
no haemoglobin products (of that type) in Maitland Hospital or in the
Hunter New England Local Health District or anywhere in New South
Wales," he said.
"In my view,
it was completely inappropriate the work sheets in this form were
available for Mrs Winchester to complete in 2018 when no haemoglobin
products were available to her (in 2019)."
Mr O'Neil said the work sheets were printed in America and "inappropriate for use in New South Wales".
"It
is an example of problems arising from the church seeking to provide
medical info to congregants in NSW ... within documents published in
America.
"I am at a loss to understand why the church wants work sheets accessible at all. They should not be used at all for any purpose."
Church
officials told the inquest the church did not provide medical
information to members as it was a religious organisation, not a medical
organisation.
Mr O'Neil made
14 recommendations, including that the local health district put in
place a requirement that the surgical team review pre-anaesthetic
clinic notes before to surgery.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-26/jehovahs-witness-blood-transfusion-refusal-death-nsw-coroner/104983208
My comments,,,,,,
(we don't provide medical information but we print and distribute "no blood cards" to all congregants)
jtg
