Transfusion Experience from France

by Bells 16 Replies latest watchtower medical

• 

  Bells

  Long story short - my in-laws know that I strongly disagree with their blood doctrine. I received 3rd degree burns as a toddler and without blood, I would have died. No doubt this is much of the reason that I feel the way I do.

  My MIL sent me an article, saying that I might find it of interest - in other words, it is an example to 'refute my contradictions about blood transfusions'

  I don't know much about this procedure, but I know that sometimes bloodless alternatives are available, where other times - blood is required or the patient will die. I am sure that in the case of 3rd degree burns, blood is still required. I'd love anyone who has more knowledge in this area to share...

  Anyway, here is the 'Experience':

  We would like to share with you an experience related by brother Baudril from the Hospital Lisason Committee, during a recent curcuit assembly in Marseille.

  Margo, a premature baby, born at 30 weeks weighing only 1.2kg (2.65lbs) with a very low blood count, the doctors felt it important to administer a blood transfusion. The parents, JWs, contact the HLC.

  A process is started, faxes are sent, and the brothers propse to the doctors if they would accept to administer erythroproeteine (EPO), synthetic hormones which stimulate the production of red blood cells) for 3 days. The doctors accept and the Bethel supply the product.

  After 3 days, the blood count stabilises. The brothers propose a fourth day of EPO and the count rises. So the treatment is approved and continued. Margo was saved.

  This was a first in France. So the doctors decide to try this treatment on other premature babies and they obtain the same results. This treatment is then established for all premature babies in the Pediatric Service dept in the hospital of Purpan in Toulouse.

  The media would not, of course, dispense this information. But as the brother said in his talk, we don't neeed media publicity, we prefer to give a personal witness to touch the hearts of people. That's what was done in this case, especially to the medical personnel who witnessed personally the procedure and the devotion of the HLC and did not hesitate to say "And we say that JW's don't give medical treatment to their children.' as well as the parents of other premature babies that have benefited and had their lives saved because of the treatment propsed by the HLC, who made themselves available to discuss with the brothers and give further explanations and details.

  Don't you think that a very great witness to Jehovah God has been given on this occasion?

  Please do not hesitate to relate this beautiful experience to all the brothers and sisters in your vicinity. This is a situation that can serve us well in the preaching work to refute those who contradict about blood transfusions.
• 

  Gopher

  Bells,

  You may be interested to know that this is an old story that's been going around the JW grapevine for at least 4 years. Here is a 2009 discussion thread in this forum about the very same e-mail: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/medical/175405/1/HISTORIC-EVENT-IN-FRANCE-JW-EMAIL

  At the end of the above discussion, it is discussed that EPO takes a while to work - usually 3 weeks. This seems to contradict the account in the JW story / fable that good results are coming in 3 to 4 days with infants.

  Another link from the National Institutes of Health from last year sheds more light on this. Here is the link to the public paper issued last year: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22972076

  The "Author's Conclusions" section on this page said "Due to the limited benefits and the increased risk of ROP, early administration of EPO is not recommended. Evidence is lacking for the possible neuro protective role of EPO in preterm infants."
• 

  Daniel1555

  Bonjour bells

  Bloodless medicine is of course recommendable. Most hospitals in Switzerland use alternatives to blood. But of course there are situations where alternatives won't work and only infusions of blood or the components forbidden by wt are saving the life or health of the patient.

  Many witnesses believe that it is only because of jw's that there is bloodless medicine. They don't realize that praise for that does not belong to the jw but to the medical community who was searching for ways to save lives, even those who would be ready to sacrifice it for a mistaken doctrine.
• 

  jgnat

  "Bethel supply the product." - really? really? How about Bethel provided a list of suppliers?

  As others have already mentioned, very low blood counts can result in damage to the brain and to the major organs. We really don't want that for a developing newborn, do we?

  As an aside, a Witness woman should take care to marry a man of the same Rh blood type. Since the Witness mother would potentially refuse life-saving treatment for Hemolytic disease, she should take all other precautionary measures.

  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2266/
• 

  eyeuse2badub

  Don't die for some stupid misguided, misunderstood, and misinterpreted teaching. If you're 'still in' and fear df'ing play the 'cave in' card. If blood is the absolute best option to save a life, take the blood and later "explain" that you just 'caved in' under the presure of the circumstances. It's easier to ask for forgiveness (may the holy WTBTS forgive you) than to ask for permission.

  eyeuse2badub
• 

  Island Man

  Witnesses engage in foolish, dishonest, black and white thinking when it comes to blood.

  They will use one scenario or example of where alternative treatments work effectively as if to suggest that there is never a need to use blood. They completely ignore the fact that there are different medical scenarios some of which cannot be effectively treated without the use of blood components.

  They will highlight the exceptional situations where persons have died from transfusion related complications or contracted an infection while completely ignoring the fact that these are exceptions and many more lives have been saved by the use of blood. They also make light of, and in some cases even outrighty deny, that persons have died because of refusing blood transfusions. They actually asininely reason that it is better to refuse blood because of the risk of complications and infection while being seemingly blind and oblivious to the fact that in a life threatening situation, such risks are considerably less likely than the risk of dying from not having the transfusion. It's almost as if they're saying: "Hey it's bad to save your life with blood because you might get AIDS. It's safer to die AIDS free from a lack of blood." They have absolutely no risk vs benefit assessment skills when it comes to blood because their reasoning has been poisoned by religious indoctrination. They actually reason foolishly!

  Outside of the fact that there are now effective medical alternatives to blood that can be used in many circumstances instead of giving blood unnecessarily, the JW medical arguments against the use of blood are very foolish.
• 

  Crazyguy

  Jesus said in matthew that they desired mercy and not sacrifice, chapter 12 if i remember correctly. Any way at one moment the JW's are talking like they are doing something so wonderful abstaining from blood and introducing the world to a new idea and pushing new technology. On the other hand hoping no one will notice they allowing members to take all sorts of blood components and hemopure which is cows blood. The blatant hypocrisy is just sickening and the fact that they have cost so many their lives is an abomination.
• 

  rebel8

  Besides the medical implausibility of the story and the source being so well-known for fabricating urban myths, this sentence makes it sound like a conspiracy theory:

  The media would not, of course, dispense this information.

  Gimme a break.
• 

  steve2

  There have long been alternatives to blood transfusions - and the JW urban stories about them grow legs by the hundreds.

  But the JWs ignore this incontrovertible fact:

  When blood transfusions are most critically needed, there is absolutely no alternative- this particularly applies to sudden and significant blood volume loss due to physical trauma - as occurs during emergency procedures.

  If you want to know how critical blood transfusions are to survival, try to imagine what would happen in Emergency Departments the world over if they summarily banned blood and relied solely on bloodless alternatives. The death rate from Emergency Department admissions would skyrocket overnight and the resulting death rates would make front page news - and rightly so.

  When JWs crow on about bloodless procedures, the only approriate response is, Bore me with something I don't know.

  No, the Watchtower is extraordinarily deceptive in its unbalanced promotion of bloodless alternatives when it knows full well these are utterly useless following significant blood volume loss.
• 

  jwfacts

  The media would not, of course, dispense this information.

  That shows that the email is propoganda. The media find JW's irrelevant, so that would not make much difference as to whether the story is reported upon or not. However, the medical fraternity and media are eager for better medical procedure and if something arises that saves lives, then they are keen to report on it. If EPO for babies turns out to been proven to save lives, then it will become standard procedure. It has nothing to do with JWs or their stance on blood in the eyes of anyone other than JWs, apart from the fact that JWs have been willing guinea pigs on which to test new ideas.