Southern medical journal
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Southern medical journal · Apr 1984
Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusion: physicians' attitudes and legal precedents.
Patients with significant medical problems who refuse some aspects of their medical care present medicolegal and management problems for their physicians. The selective refusal of transfusion of blood products by Jehovah's Witnesses typifies such situations. To explore physicians' reactions to these constraints, we sent a questionnaire to medical students, residents, and faculty wherein we asked them to respond to case simulations involving Jehovah's Witnesses and refusal of transfusion. ⋯ Only educational level made a significant difference in response: faculty members most frequently mentioned obtaining a court order when giving transfusion against a patient's will. Case law, upon which legal grounds such decisions stand, is often conflicting and is evolving toward allowing patients a freer hand in their choices of therapy. We sketch the history and present status of these precedents and offer a framework for dealing with patients' refusal of care.