NoBlood

Jan B. Wade · #1 (**permalink**) 01-09-2005, 04:51 AM

Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Blood substitute vexes Jehovah's Witnesses
PolyHeme will be tested on injured patients, many without consent.
By Doug Guthrie

Testing a blood substitute in Metro Detroit next year could lead to a revolution in medical care, but for the area's estimated 8,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, it has produced a religious gray area.

PolyHeme will be given to severely injured patients, many without consent because they will be unconscious. That could include Jehovah's Witnesses, who refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons.

"It could be seen by some as a kind of spiritual rape," said Michael Neal, a lawyer from Troy and a Jehovah's Witness.

He serves on a six-member board of elders helping doctors and patients in conflicts over treatments involving blood.

A violation by members can result in de-fellowship or shunning by the church. But, the denomination's headquarters in New York has left open the question of whether the blood substitute will be allowed.

Local Jehovah's Witnesses hope hospital officials will meet with them to discuss ways to let people opt out. Most witnesses already carry identification indicating their desire to abstain from blood transfusions.

However, many may embrace the new blood substitute, said Karen Scalici, a Jehovah's Witness and the nurse coordinator of bloodless surgery at St. John's Riverview Hospital in Detroit.

"Personally, I think it's exciting," Scalici said. "Many Jehovah's Witnesses are going to be very interested in this and some will have a problem with it."

Jehovah's Witnesses take blood-enhancing drugs before surgical procedures and use a machine in the operating room to collect and recirculate their own blood.

Doug Menner, associate director of hospital information services for Jehovah's Witnesses nationwide in Brooklyn, N.Y., said the church monitors evolving medical science and attempts to determine how it relates to Biblical guidance.

With PolyHeme, the church has determined it isn't whole blood, which poses a reconsideration.

Blood forbidden

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible bans the transfusion of blood. They cite: Acts 15:28 -- For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; Acts 15:29 -- That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Source: King James Version of the Bible http://www.detnews.com/pix/folios/dot.gif

nausicaachan · #2 (**permalink**) 02-21-2005, 10:44 PM

I was looking at the web page for the company that is producing PolyHeme and at some other pages but i was unable to find the answer to my question. Maybe you can help.
I know that it is stated to be a hemoglobin based product, but how much of it is primary blood or blood fraction? The website also said that a side effect of it can be the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis. Can either of those be transmitted throuh the blood fraction of hemoglobin?

TMac · #3 (**permalink**) 06-16-2005, 10:54 PM

Hemoglobin is a fraction of a red blood cell. However it makes up 33% of a red blood cell and basically is responsible for the function of a red blood cell. PolyHeme is human hemoglobin that has been chemically modified and purified using a multi-step process to create a polymerized form of hemoglobin. Most who accept fractions over primary components accept minor fractions, and therefore may have a problem with a product that makes up 1/3 of a primary component. Any fraction that is not recombinant or heat processed has the potential (although very small) for disease transmission.