Quality Alternatives to Transfusion

You might feel, 'Transfusions are hazardous, but are there high-quality alternatives?'  A good question, and note the word "quality." 

Everyone, including Jehovah's Witnesses wants effective medical care of high quality.  Dr. Grant E. Steffen noted two key elements:  "Quality medical care is the capacity of the elements that care to achieve legitimate medical and non-medical goals.' " (The Journal of the American Medical Association, July 1, 1988) "Non-medical goals" would include not violating the ethics or Bible-based conscience of the  patient. - Acts 15:28, 29.

Are there legitimate and effective ways to manage serious medical problems without using blood? Happily, the the answer is yes. 

Though most surgeons have claimed that they gave blood only when absolutely necessary, after the AIDS epidemic arose their case of blood dropped rapidly.  An editorial in Mayo Clinic proceedings  (September 1988) said that "one of the few benefits of the epidemic" was that it "resulted in various strategies on the part of the patients and physicians to avoid blood transfusion."  A blood-bank official explains:  "What has changed is the intensity of the message, the receptivity of clinicians to the message  (because of the increased perception of risks),  and the demand for consideration of alternatives." - Transfusion Medicine Reviews, October  1989.

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From the jw.org publications