JW Refuses Blood. JW Dies. JW's Sue.

Mister 8iggs

I guess the family needs the money so that they can quit their jobs and Pioneer.

http://www.canada.com/halifax/news/story.asp?id={49CB73C1-27A2-48F8-A3FB-6127FCC41A9E}

Family of Jehovah's Witness gives up lawsuit against doctors over her death


By ANDREA MacDONALD
The Daily News

Monday, August 26, 2002

The family of a Jehovahs Witness who died giving birth in Halifax still believes the womans caregivers are at fault.

But the family has run out of money to continue legal action against her doctors, forcing the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to dump the lawsuit.

I hope the hospital and the doctors have all realized that this was a mistake, regardless of what they admit in legal proceedings, Ontario lawyer Daniel Pole said yesterday.

Poles sister, Janiece Deborah Carter, died in April 1996, at Halifaxs old Victoria General Hospital after losing an estimated four to five litres of blood.

She refused a transfusion because of her religious beliefs.

Jehovahs Witnesses have interpreted passages of the Old and New testaments to mean people should not get blood transfusions.

Carter, 32, had delivered a healthy baby the afternoon before she died, but her blood pressure dropped rapidly after she received a spinal anaesthetic.

The Queens County woman had a history of unusual bleeding. Doctors had also diagnosed her with a rare premature separation of the placenta from the uterine wall.

Late on April 15, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the then-Grace Maternity Hospital diagnosed Carter with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.

She died the following morning.

A year later, Carters family sued her five doctors, the Salvation Army and the hospitals in which she was treated.

The family argues that the doctors knew of Carters religion months in advance, but did nothing to prepare for an emergency.

Pole believes that either an unusual blood disorder arose, or Carters bleeding vessels werent properly tied off during her caesarean section.

The family says doctors could have saved Carters life by planning for other medical treatments that didnt involve a transfusion.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court threw out the lawsuit Thursday because it has been on the shelf so long with no movement.

Pole said the trial, which was scheduled to last three weeks, would likely have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Joey Palov, the doctors lawyer refused comment yesterday.

Pole told The Daily News yesterday the hospitals and doctors have a moral liability for what happened.

I hope theyve learned from this lesson that they can prevent other people from dying, he said.

[email protected]

Obviously the JW family's attorney thought the case so weak that he didn't think the case was worth investing or risking HIS money to fund the lawsuit. It would be very difficult to get a jury to sympathize with a plaintiff who refused medical treatment that could have saved them. Their lawyer was smart to make the JW family pay for their own legal expenses.

Mister 8iggs

MegaDude- Your comment's made me chuckle but they were so true! If the case was strong enough the attorney would not have let his fee become a detraction.

Scully

The article states:
"But the family has run out of money to continue legal action against her doctors, forcing the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to dump the lawsuit."

THE FAMILY HAS RUN OUT OF MONEY???

Why isn't the WTS involved in and bankrolling this case the way they did with Shunned Father's daughter's case???

Seems to be a case of "follow our rules at your own risk" and "balk at our rules at your own risk" too, doesn't it??

It's really very sad when a case like this happens. There are a few cases where Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) can happen without warning. However, in the majority of cases that are seen in the obstetrical specialty, there are pre-existing conditions that are well known to result in this tragedy. One of them is Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension (PIH), which can be controlled with medication, bedrest and monitoring both mother and baby for escalation of symptoms. This is one of the reasons why pregnant women have their blood pressure monitored at each pregnancy check up. Doctors also check the woman's urine for protein, which is another symptom of the condition.

In the vast majority of PIH cases, the condition is managed well and does not reach the point of becoming HELLP syndrome, which can escalate further and put the patient at risk for DIC. The patient's blood is checked for Hemolysis (breakdown of red cells), Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelet count, which would indicate that the patient's risk for developing DIC is increasing.

I think I may have known some of the family members in this case. I'll have to do some checking and find out. One of my colleagues used to work at the hospital in question. I'll see if she remembers anything about it.

Love, Scully

Mister 8iggs

Scully-

You brought out another great point that didn't even dawn on me:

Why isn't the WTS involved in and bankrolling this case the way they did with Shunned Father's daughter's case???

How true that point is especially if the hospital were really negligent. I look forward to hearing any "inside information" from you.

LDH

Pole told The Daily News yesterday the hospitals and doctors have a moral liability for what happened.
I hope theyve learned from this lesson that they can prevent other people from dying, he said .

1. And the Governing Body of JWs doesn't have a "moral Liability" with all of their #($&&@(*$# flip-flops that have caused good people to die?!?!?!?

2. I can think of about 6 million people that I, too, hope have learned a valuable lesson. Deny medical treatment at your own risk.

Lisa

Mister 8iggs

Ah, Lisa! That's why I put the *rolling eyes* after that sentence. My thought was exactly the same as yours!

Xander

Why isn't the WTS involved in and bankrolling this case the way they did with Shunned Father's daughter's case???

Well, duh - the women in question is already dead for her faith, so their mission is already accomplished.

Hmmm...new motto of the Watchtower legal department:

"We shall not rest until all Witnesses have died for their faith"

Scully

Xander:
>>>Well, duh - the women in question is already dead for her faith, so their mission is already accomplished.<<<

Your point is well taken, but the WTS does have some precedents both in Canada and the US, if I recall correctly, to the effect that physicians, hospitals and their staff can be held liable for damages if negligence or malpractice is involved in a death where a JW refuses blood. The JW's refusal of blood does not excuse medical staff from negligent care or malpractice, and requires that doctors and nurses provide competent care within the scope of the parameters set by the patient's refusal of blood.

If the hospital or any of its staff members were negligent, the WTS would seem to have some kind of moral responsibility (since this term is being bandied about here) to help the family recover some of its losses in the alleged wrongful death of this woman. To leave them on their own when it's their own policy that was being upheld is as negligent as they claim the physicians were in delivering her care.

Love, Scully

Kaethra

I remember this! My mother knows this family very well. They moved into my old congregation a couple of years after I left it. It was very, very sad. The couple had another child - a daughter, who was, I think, about seven years old when her mom died. My mother had always spoken very fondly of Janiece, long before the tragedy. She was so happy to have her in her congregation as she was so kind and so smart. The congregation was devastated when she died. (I wonder if she would have been here with us apostates had she lived.)

Still, I'm very surprised that they sued. I remember when it happened - my mom told me that there was absolutely nothing the doctors could do for Janiece, as "when they opened her up, her uterus was just like a sponge"; there was no way to stop the bleeding. (There's that theocratic war stategy at play...even from my own mother. She didn't want to "stumble" her wayward daughter by telling me that the poor woman might have been saved with a blood transfusion.)

I'm not surprised that the family is getting no help from the Tower. It seems that the Tower only feels a moral "responsibility" when there's something in it for them. $$$

Scully, I've sent you an email.

JW Refuses Blood. JW Dies. JW's Sue.

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