Fisherman said:
It has not been established on this thread that the posted "agreement" is genuine and used by JW...
The evidence that suggests such a letter exists and is used, is abundant.. for those who are not biased:
“3. The JW Hospital Liaison Committee members supporting this couple inquired whether an option existed for them to sign a letter of understanding (LOU) indicating their acknowledgment that their child will receive necessary transfusions, without requiring either their explicit consent or [Child Protective Services] involvement to temporarily apprehend the child.”—(Frolic et al, Opening the Black Box of Ethics Policy Work: Evaluating a Covert Practice, The American Journal of Bioethics, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 2012, pp. 3–15)"
And from the news article:
"Toronto’s Sick Kids... Rebecca Bruni, a bioethicist at the hospital. [The hospital] also asks parents to sign a letter of understanding — drafted with the help of one of the church’s hospital liaison committees — that says the institution recognizes their religious objections and will try to avoid transfusions if at all possible. The letter is not a consent form, but adds that where the child is at imminent risk of serious harm or death, medical staff will press ahead with the transfusion."
Justitia Themis
"The following seems to document the usage of a similar document in a 2006 or 2007 North Carolina case:
"Hospitals have an ethical obligation to delineate expressly to guardians of minors the parameters of the law and how medical care will be administered.
The institution operating the “blood conservation program” in the above case routinely utilizes acknowledgement statements in circumstances involving the medical care of minors whose parents seek to refuse blood transfusions. These statements serve as a tool ensuring and documenting that clear and complete disclosure of the hospital’s intentions are conveyed to the patient’s guardians . . .
Failure of the parents to sign such a document would not alter the care administered to the minor under North Carolina law in the event a life saving [sic] transfusion is required. From a legal and ethical standpoint, the statement serves to document formally that a clear dialogue was conducted between the hospital and the parents regarding the emergent administration of blood products.”
Paul R. Brezina & John C. Moskop,Urgent Medical Decision Making Regarding a Jehovah’s Witness Minor: A Case Report and Discussion, 68 NC MED J 312, 314 (2007)."
www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/244052/blood-transfusion-letter-understanding?size=10&page=3
Justitia Themis
"In the article I quoted earlier, the doctor actually directs physicians to www.noblood.com to obtain similar documents..."
www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/244052/blood-transfusion-letter-understanding?size=10&page=4
AS FOR THIS LETTER SPECIFICALLY:
"4. First hint of this document came in early 2008 after reading the article “Only flesh with its soul–its blood–you must not eat” (Dr. Christine Harrison, Paediatric Child Health, Vol. 12, No. 10, December 2007, pp. 867-868) and attempting to retrieve an unpublished referenced guideline titled Jehovah’s Witnesses and Blood Products within The Hospital for Sick Children. Success in obtaining the policy and the Letter of Understanding is recent. It turns out Dr. Harrison was the issuing authority within The Hospital for Sick Children for the policy and letter."
With just a little research, I tracked her down.
If anyone (FISHERMAN for instance) wishes to email her and confirm the validity of this letter, *PLEASE DO SO* rather than publically suggesting that the document may not be 'genuine'... find out for yourself (and please post here when you get a reply, otherwise me posting all this was a total waste of time):
www.jcb.utoronto.ca/people/harrison.shtml
