Blood Transfusions-A Long History of Controversy

 Blood Transfusions-No Medical Standard

Each year in the United States alone, more than 11,000,000 units of red cells are transfused into 3,000,000 patients.  In view of that large number, one would assume that there is a strict standard among physicians when it comes to administering blood. Yet, the New England Journal of Medicine noted that there is surprisingly little data "to guide decisions about transfusions."  Indeed, there is a wide variaion in practice, not only regardig precisely what is transfused and how much but also regarding whether a transfusion is adminstered at all.  "Transfusion depends of the doctor, not on the patient," says the medical journal Acta Anaesthesiologica Beligca.  Considering the above, it is hardly surprising that a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that "an estimated 66 percent of transfusions are administered inappropriately." 

Next time:  The Growing Demand for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery

From the jw.org publications