1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

tween the doctor and the patient might
not be enough to guarantee that blood
would not be used. She knew, for example,
that many times a "ghost" doctor performs
operations and has had no contact
with the patient at all. Even should the
family doctor tell him that the patient
does not wish blood, the "ghost" surgeon
can ignore this if it is not definitely written
on the patient's chart. He may not feel
bound by the verbal agreement of family
doctor and patient. So the hospital was
contacted and the request was made that
the words "No Blood" be clearly written
on the patient's chart. This was done.
Later a call was made to the hospital to
determine the time of the operation. The
nurse on duty talked quite freely with the
caller (due to the caller's profession) and
advised that the operation had been put
off because of the refusal of the use of
blood. The doctor was quite disturbed, the
nurse explained, because there was always
much loss of blood in this type of operation.
He was not sure that he could perform
the operation. Then, had he really
intended to use blood all along? Obviously,
yes, because upon making a further check
it was found that the blood had been ordered
and received at the hospital that
Monday morning!
Nevertheless, the operation was successfully
performed on the following Thursday
without the use of blood. It took longer,
true. The doctor had to be sure that every
vessel large or small was tied or clamped,
but tlie doctor was equal to the challenge
of his skill. The blood loss by this method
was small enough to cause amazement in
the hospital laboratory. Later, the blood
that had been ordered for this patient was
returned to the Red Cross unused, unnecessary.
After the operation the wife of the patient
was talking with the doctor and was
able to give him some additional explana-
JULY 22, 1964
tion of the beliefs of Jehovah's witnesses.
The doctor said he had operated on Witnesses
before, but never had anyone been
so definite about the use of blood as to
have it written on the chart that there was
to be "No Blood."
Nor is this an isolated example. In the
same city where the above occurred there
was the case of a woman needing a Caesarean
section. Her own doctor was not
qualified to perform this operation, so he
called in another doctor, a specialist. Despite
the assurances that the patient's
views on blood would be respected, what
was written on the papers on this case
would allow the specialist to do what he
wished. In contrast to the bold writing on
general directions there was the small
writing at the bottom of the order sheet
that said, "Do not give blood unless absolutely
necessary." (Italics ours) The specialist
had ordered two bottles of blood,
which came for his use. The patient did
not want blood at aU; the doctor altered
this by the way he wrote the directions on
the matter.
Vigilance Required
What can the Christian do to exercise
his respect for the sanctity of blood and
be sure others respect his wishes? Several
points stand out as one analyzes these
experiences:
A mere conversation with the family
doctor is not enough to make sure that
blood will not be used. In addition to
"ghost" surgeons who may perform the
actual operation, there is the possibility of
emergency conditions arising while one is
in the hospital that would bring immediate
attention from the staff's resident doctor,
not the family doctor. The resident doctor
may not know one's wishes respecting
blood, and there may not be time to contact
the family doctor. Also, many doctors
work with other doctors, as in clinics, and
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