Refusal of blood transfusions key to deaths of 2 Jehovah's Witnesses, coroner finds

[Guest Nicole]

The patients, both mothers of newborns, died within week of each other of childbirth complications

By Kamila Hinkson, CBC News Posted: Nov 14, 2017 9:27 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 14, 2017 3:38 PM ET

Mirlande Cadet, left, and Éloïse Dupuis died within a week of each other from complications related to blood loss after giving birth. Both women were Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion that forbids blood transfusions. (Submitted by Isaac Cadet and Manon Boyer)

 

A Quebec coroner has found that the refusal of blood transfusions played a key role in the deaths of two Jehovah's Witnesses who died of childbirth complications last year.

Dr. Luc Malouin looked into the deaths of Mirlande Cadet, 46, and Éloïse Dupuis, 26, after they died in separate incidents at hospitals in Montreal and Quebec City.

Blood transfusions are forbidden under Jehovah's Witness doctrine, which holds that the Old and New Testaments command them to abstain from blood. Quebec law upholds the right of adult Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse blood as long as their decision is considered "free" and "informed."

In his report about Dupuis's case, Malouin pointed out that sometimes, doctors and medical staff find themselves in "untenable" situations.

"On the one hand, they have taken the oath to protect and save human life and, on the other hand, they have an obligation to respect their patient's freedom of choice, even if they know that ultimately that choice will kill them when a simple medical treatment could prevent that death."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/jehovahs-witnesses-blood-transfusion-death-quebec-coroner-1.4401101

[Evacuated]

Very sad report and we can only imagine how difficult this must all be for the surviving families.

7 hours ago, Nicole said:

Blood transfusions are forbidden under Jehovah's Witness doctrine, which holds that the Old and New Testaments command them to abstain from blood. Quebec law upholds the right of adult Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse blood as long as their decision is considered "free" and "informed."

This statement is rather misleading in that  a "free" and "informed" decision on a matter does not sit well with the notion of that matter being something which is arbitrarily "forbidden under Jehovah's Witness doctrine". 

Also, whilst the coroner correctly highlights the difficullty faced by physicians in balancing the will of a patient against their subjective medical assessment of the result, it surely is not the case that the medical oath to protect and save human life is one that must be fulfilled "at all costs"? Otherwise, how could abortion (apparently prohibited by the Hippocratic oath) be permitted? Seemingly running at about 100,000 per year in Canada, this would surely generate significant coroner input if unlawful. And yet, the outrage seems disproportionate.

Once again, media and honesty publicly demonstrate their estrangement.

[David Normand]

@Gone Fishing Comments are well reasoned and communicated. Thanks.