Treatment FAQ

what can jehovah witnesses not do medical treatment

by Eunice Lindgren Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Jehovah's Witnesses love life and do whatever is reasonable in order to prolong it. Hence, they seek quality health care and accept the vast majority of medical treatments. However, for Bible-based religious reasons, Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept allogeneic blood transfusion.

Full Answer

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses accept medical treatment?

Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses gladly accept medicine and medical treatment. They want to maintain good health and to prolong life. In fact, like the first-century Christian Luke, some of Jehovah’s Witnesses are physicians. — Colossians 4:14.

Why can’t Jehovah’s Witnesses take blood?

The first medical restriction, and the most widely known, is that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions since they believe that taking blood through the mouth or veins violates God’s laws.

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses need blood for hip replacement surgery?

Hip replacement surgery commonly requires a blood transfusion during or immediately after. His autopsy, however, showed a scar on his left hip. Followers are quick to point out that other than accepting blood, Jehovah’s Witnesses are told to seek and receive the best medical care available.

Should Jehovah’s Witnesses be treated with cultural competence?

A hypothetical example of treating a Jehovah’s Witness with cultural competence is in a Grey’s Anatomy episode titled “Bad Blood”. If you’re a fan of Grey’s anatomy, you might remember this particular episode in which a patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness is brought into the hospital.

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What medical restrictions do Jehovah Witnesses have?

Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from eating the meat of animals from which blood has not been properly drained. They also refrain from eating such things as blood sausage and blood soup. No special preparation is required. The patient can manage his or her own diet within the hospital dietary parameters.

What medical things do Jehovah Witnesses refuse?

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse transfusions of whole blood, of red and white corpuscles, platelets and plasma. They also refuse both natural and recombinant haemoglobin, although positions differ among them regarding blood-derived products such as albumin, immunoglobulin and coagulation factors.

Can Jehovah Witness do surgery?

Nowadays, a large number of elective surgical and trauma cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses are being performed without blood transfusions. In elective surgery this should rarely be an issue, providing decisions have been made clearly in advance.

Can Jehovah Witnesses use drugs?

Obedience To Secular Laws The Bible states that to please God, you must obey secular authorities. In many places, the law strictly prohibits the use of certain drugs. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Gods wants us to be free, not only from practices that harm our body but also from those that corrupt the sprit.

What happens if a Jehovah Witness gets a blood transfusion?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that a human must not sustain his life with another creature's blood, and they recognize no distinction "between taking blood into the mouth and taking it into the blood vessels." It is their deep-seated religious conviction that Jehovah will turn his back on anyone who receives blood ...

Do Jehovah Witness believe in medical care?

Jehovah's Witnesses love life and do whatever is reasonable in order to prolong it. Hence, they seek quality health care and accept the vast majority of medical treatments. However, for Bible-based religious reasons, Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept allogeneic blood transfusion.

Can Jehovah Witness do organ transplant?

Jehovah's Witnesses – According to the Watch Tower Society, the legal corporation for the religion, Jehovah's Witnesses do not encourage organ donation but believe it is a matter best left to an individual's conscience. All organs and tissues, however, must be completely drained of blood before transplantation.

Do Jehovah Witness vaccinate their children?

Jehovah's Witnesses condemned the practice of vaccination in 1931 as "a direct violation of the everlasting covenant that God made with Noah after the flood", but reversed that policy in 1952. The decision of whether to vaccinate themselves or their family is left to individuals.

Can Jehovah Witness do dialysis?

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions, including autologous transfusions in which a person has their own blood stored to be used later in a medical procedure, (though some Witnesses will accept autologous procedures such as dialysis or cell salvage in which their blood is not stored) and the use of packed RBCs ...

What Jehovah Witness can and Cannot do?

Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas, birthdays, or any holidays with a pagan origin. They are also prohibited from entering into what they consider unclean practices such as receiving blood transfusions, and entering military service is prohibited.

Can a Jehovah Witness drink?

Jehovah's Witnesses reject foods containing blood but have no other special dietary requirements. Some Jehovah's Witnesses may be vegetarian and others may abstain from alcohol, but this is a personal choice.

Can Jehovah Witness have blood tests?

BLOOD TESTS - Blood is usually seen by Jehovah Witnesses to represent life itself. Specimens must therefore be treated with respect, and disposed of with care. DIET - Jehovah Witnesses believe it is forbidden to eat blood or blood products.

How many Jehovah's Witnesses are there?

Medical Restrictions: Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although the number has never been confirmed, it is estimated that there are around 4,000 religions practiced in the world, each having its own medical beliefs, values, and practices.

What episode of Grey's anatomy is Jehovah's Witness?

A hypothetical example of treating a Jehovah’s Witness with cultural competence is in a Grey’s Anatomy episode titled “Bad Blood”. If you’re a fan of Grey’s anatomy, you might remember this particular episode in which a patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness is brought into the hospital.

Is it important to never assume anything about a patient?

Therefore, it is imperative to never assume anything about the patient unless it is clarified .

Can a witness refuse blood fractions?

They are, however, allowed to donate organs, receive transplants, vaccines, and serums. In the case of minor blood fractions such as vaccinations and serums, an individual Witness may choose to refuse them although they are not explicitly prohibited.

When treating a child of Jehovah's Witness parents, practitioners should be alive to possible complex family/

When treating a child of Jehovah’s Witness parents, practitioners should be alive to possible complex family/community dynamics. It may be that although the parents cannot openly be seen to encourage their child to consent to a blood transfusion, or to consent on their child’s behalf, they would actually welcome the Minister of Social Development consenting on behalf of their child and/or the practitioner being authorised, in terms of the Children’s Act, to ignore their refusal to consent to a blood transfusion on behalf of their child. If this is suspected, it will facilitate decision-making on the part of the practitioner.

What happens if the treating doctor disagrees with the parents' alternatives?

If the treating doctor disagrees with the parents’ alternatives then, in the absence of an emergency, the decision should be made by the court. In the presence of an emergency the child’s best interests prevail.

How old do you have to be to get medical treatment?

A child who is over the age of 12 years (and who is of sufficient maturity and has the mental capacity to understand the benefits, risks, social and other implications of treatment) may consent to his/her own medical treatment without assistance from a parent.

Can a practitioner refer a patient to another practitioner?

Naturally, the practitioner would have to refer such a patient to another medical practitioner, if the patient still wished to undergo such treatment/surgery despite being aware that his/her refusal to receive a blood transfusion might compromise the outcome of the treatment/surgery. If a practitioner agrees to refrain from administering ...

Can a doctor refuse a blood transfusion?

In an emergency, a medical practitioner may not refuse to treat a patient who refuses a blood transfusion and the patient should accordingly be treated without administering blood. If possible, the consequences of not receiving a blood transfusion should still be explained to the patient.

Can a court order be given before a blood transfusion?

If this person consents to a blood transfusion (in contravention of the patient’s directive), it is advisable to obtain a court order before administering the blood transfusion. In an emergency, when there is no time to obtain a court order, the patient’s wishes should be respected and a blood transfusion should not be administered.

Why don't Jehovah's Witnesses eat blood?

Just be firmly resolved not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the flesh. - Deuteronomy 12:23. That’s just one of several Old and New Testament scriptures used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to explain why their religion refuses to accept blood transfusions. cnn/alberto mier.

Why don't Amish people have heart transplants?

The Amish will not allow heart transplants and, in some cases, heart surgery because they view the heart as “the soul of the body.” Children who have not been baptized are exempt from that restriction.

What do Christian scientists believe?

Christian Scientists. Christian Scientists believe that the primary method of healing should be through prayer, and many members have in the past been against modern medical treatments. There have been measles outbreaks among Christian Scientists, and studies have shown that mortality levels were high.

Do Amish people seek medical attention?

An Amish horse-drawn buggy. Though the religion does not forbid its members from seeking medical attention, many Amish are reluctant to do so unless absolutely necessary. They believe that God is the ultimate healer, and they are likely to turn to folk remedies, herbal teas and other more “natural” antidotes.

Do Seventh Day Adventists have medical issues?

In fact, Seventh-day Adventists have no issue with standard medical treatment but do emphasize a holistic approach to health, which they practice in their not-for-profit Adventist hospital system, with divisions around the world.

Does Copeland believe in medical treatment?

Copeland is not the first evangelical to call for limited medical treatment. Some fundamentalists don’t believe in medications or psychological treatments for mental illness . Small groups of faith healers believe that prayer can heal and shun conventional medical support.

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