I subscrive to the mag, just got mine in the mail yesterday
I really hope this sort of evidence keeps coming and makes transfusions a thing of the past in most instances.
For all the obvious reasons, blood transfusions are not an ideal treatment for anything other than major blood loss. Use of blood components would probably still continue for a long time, but its still better to find a cure for haemophilia.
On a JW level too ... it would be good to have this whole issue reduced to a minor thing. Lets face it, those who died from not having a transfusion still died. They might have not fared as well as someone who didn't have a xfusion who LIVED, but when you've died, you're just as badly off as anyone else who died! On the other hand, there are certainly cases of witnesses who didn't have blood who might otherwise have, who DID fare better than their counterparts.
Of course, JWs refuse to store their own blood prior to surgery, which would help in a lot of cases, and they dont donate blood whilst using the general bloody supply for 'fractions'. They're still immoral.
So as far as blood goes, the JWs have been about 80% correct. I've always felt this way anyway - the science has always pointed this way, just surgeons have been slow to follow science. I find it remarkable that there was an item on the news the other night about how there is this big trial going on in New Zealand to use a checklist in surgery. WTF? I thought that would have been the case 100 years ago!!! HEll, they use a checklist to check my car for road worthiness every 6 months - how come they haven't been using a checklist in surgery? I think its time for surgeons to realise they are not gods, and to get their god-complex deflated a little. OF course, there are some nice surgeons out there. I haven't met one yet.