NoBlood

Thursday, August 17, 2006 4:26 AM CDT
Jehovah's Witness barred from making decisions for comatose wife

IOWA CITY (AP) --- A Jehovah's Witness who would not permit blood transfusions for his comatose wife has been barred from making her medical
decisions.

Tawnya Nissen, 28, of Clinton, who has been in a coma for about two weeks, will be under the guardianship of her father until she can make her own
decisions, according to a ruling issued Wednesday by a Johnson County judge.

"It's like our prayers have been answered," said Richard Reid Sr., Nissen's grandfather.

Richard Reid Jr. sought temporary guardianship of his daughter last week after her husband claimed the couple's religion prohibits the sharing of
blood.

Judge Marsha Beckelman ruled against the husband "in order to protect life," but she will allow him at meetings with doctors to discuss his wife's
medical condition and treatment.

"It is impossible ... for the court to definitively conclude that Ms. Nissen would either accept or decline blood transfusions, should it become
necessary to save her life," Beckelman wrote.

Nissen's family said she was not a member of the Jehovah's Witness church, and that her husband Chris Nissen had not allowed them access to
information about her medical condition.

Frank Santiago, the husband's attorney, said Tawnya Nissen does not have a living will but had a Jehovah's Witness identity card that instructs
doctors not to administer blood transfusions.

The card could not be produced for the court.

Tawnya Nissen was hospitalized Aug. 4 with neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a condition caused by a reaction to diet pills.

Her condition is improving, but her doctor testified in court this week that she may not be able to communicate her treatment wishes for up to six
months. She could require a blood transfusion if her condition worsens or if she needs a surgical airway, said Dr. Alix Ashare.

Santiago said Chris Nissen began barring the family from briefings with doctors after they began arguing about a possible blood transfusion.

Reid Jr., 54, testified that his daughter had told him she would accept the treatment if it would save her life.

Reid Sr. said his family's main concern is that his granddaughter receives proper medical care. He also criticized the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses,
saying they put people at risk by denying them potentially life-saving treatment.

Church officials deny the criticism, claiming that their stance against blood transfusions has helped doctors develop alternatives to the procedure.

Greg Milakovich is the chairman of the Quad-Cities Hospital Liaison Committee for Jehovah's Witnesses, a volunteer group that works with area
hospitals in addressing the needs of Jehovah's Witness patients.

He said the church urges its members to document their wishes about their medical care, and fill out a durable power of attorney for health care form.

Santiago said Chris Nissen was disappointed in the court's ruling but has not indicated a desire to appeal. He said Chris Nissen is focused on his
wife's recovery.

Copyright (c) 2006 Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier
For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

WCFCourier.com | The Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier Online!

__________________
Michelle Thomas, RNC

Some things confuses me about this story.

1) Why does an adult have an "identity card" -- typically for minors
2) Why can't her legal next of kin make her decisions?

__________________
Michelle Thomas, RNC

"The card could not be produced for the court."

"Greg Milakovich is the chairman of the Quad-Cities Hospital Liaison Committee for Jehovah's Witnesses, a volunteer group that works with area
hospitals in addressing the needs of Jehovah's Witness patients.

He said the church urges its members to document their wishes about their medical care, and fill out a durable power of attorney for health care form."


It appears she did not have either an ID card or an Advance Health Care Directive.

__________________
Larry Eitel
Webmaster

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The family states she is not a "member" of the Jehovah's Witness church. If she is not baptised, that may explain why she only had an identity card that are usually given to unbaptised youths in the congregation.

Has anyone heard any new information on this situation? Stephanie

Judge OKs transfusion for wife of Jehovah's Witness
Husband objects because of a Bible teaching

By TONY LEYS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER


August 18, 2006



A judge has ruled that a comatose Clinton woman may receive a blood transfusion, despite her husband's objections that transfusions are against God's will.

Tawnya Nissen has been unconscious since July 31, when she collapsed because of a bad reaction to a diet drug. She is being cared for at University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Doctors told the family that she might need a blood transfusion if she had to undergo a tracheotomy or other emergency surgery. Her husband, Chris, objected, saying that as a Jehovah's Witness, she was forbidden to have such a transfusion. The religion cites the Bible in teaching that God told his followers not to partake in blood.

Tawnya Nissen has not needed a transfusion, and her condition has improved. But she remains unconscious, and her father - who is not a Jehovah's Witness - asked a judge to give him, rather than her husband, the power to decide on her treatment.

Both sides agree that Nissen has studied the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses but has not been baptized as one. They disagree over how committed she is to the religion's stance against blood transfusions.

Chris Nissen's lawyer, Frank Santiago, said Tawnya Nissen often has gone door-to-door, preaching the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. He said that before she gave birth to her son by Caesarean section five years ago, she signed a statement saying she did not want a transfusion.

Santiago said she also signed a card identifying herself as a Jehovah's Witness and saying she did not want blood. But her husband has been unable to find that card, Santiago said.

"No one's listening to Tawnya's voice," Santiago said. "Tawnya's calling out for no blood."

Her aunt, Becky Reid of Clinton, said Tawnya told her sister recently that she would want a transfusion if it was necessary to save her life or her son's life.

Reid said relatives at first were uncomfortable when Tawnya Nissen became involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses several years ago. "But we accepted that it was her choice," Reid said.

However, Reid said, Tawnya Nissen seemed less committed to the religion than her husband was. "We feel if she was that interested in converting, she would have been baptized."

Reid said the issue came to a head after her niece collapsed and doctors raised the possibility of a blood transfusion. "They said, 'Well, if there's a need, she could lose her life.' We just couldn't let that happen."

Johnson County District Judge Marsha Beckelman ruled Tuesday that Tawnya Nissen's father, Richard Reid, should be granted temporary guardianship to make medical decisions until Nissen regains consciousness.

Beckelman noted the conflicting testimony of Nissen's husband and sister.

"It is impossible from the hearing record for the court to definitively conclude that Ms. Nissen would either accept or decline blood transfusions, should it become necessary to save her life," the judge wrote.

Beckelman also wrote that Chris Nissen has the right to be present during discussions of his wife's care.

Noelle Murray, a Coralville lawyer, was appointed to serve as Tawnya Nissen's attorney. Murray, who had never met her client before the case, said she did not know what Nissen would want. At the hearing, Murray argued in favor of allowing a transfusion, if needed.

"The bottom line is we don't know what her wishes were, and she may wake up and be upset" if a transfusion was ordered, Murray said.

Santiago, Chris Nissen's lawyer, said everyone was heartened by Tawnya's slow but promising recovery. It could take weeks, but she is expected to regain consciousness, he said.

"Let's hope she can straighten all this out," he said of the controversy over her treatment.

__________________
Michelle Thomas, RNC

Further information as to the matter of Tawnya Nissen at the following link:
WCFCourier.com | The Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier Online!

__________________
Jan Grossberg, RN, BSN
Editorial Team

This story underscores the importance of carrying the appropriate identification with us as well as keeping a copy of it in our "important paper drawer" at home. When I travel to Europe, I carry my passport and keep a copy of my passport back in the hotel room.

This story along with others that we read about, shows that we have to make sure that we leave nothing out when organising our affairs to do with the blood issue. If there is even the slightest chance that there could some loophole, it will get taken advantage of (which is understandable, for non Jehovah's Witnesses as it's a chance to make sure that their loved ones have the best opportunities to stay alive).
So, we have to go the extra mile by dotting all our i's and crossing all our t's, so as to not allow for any doubt in anybody's mind as to what our wishes are.
Even though there are signals that Tawnya is an active Witness, what with going out preaching and even the stand she made when having her child, there was still those niggling little uncertainties in the form of comments made from her relatives, not to mention the missing card. The point made that she hadn't been baptised has also been used against her in that people can call into question her commitment to the faith.

Posted on behald of Jan Grossberg.


Last month Ms. Michelle Thomas reported on a Jehovah's Witness that was barred from making medical decisions for his comatose wife. We are very happy to report that she has awakened! She was in a coma for a month and has now directed that her husband, Chris Nissen, act as her health care agent for any future medical decisions on her behalf. She further banned any family members from ever making any health care decisions on her behalf. An Iowa court had previously ordered that her father be appointed as her health care agent during the time she was comatose, despite the fact that the legal precedent has generally been that health care decisions may be made by a spouse in the event that a person is unable to speak for him or herself.


The issue in this case turned upon the fact that Chris Nissen is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When Tawnya became unable to speak for herself, he asserted that his wife is also a practicing Witness whose wishes are that she not be given a blood transfusion under any circumstances. Unfortunately, Tawnya’s Advance Medical Directive card, which most Jehovah’s Witnesses carry, could not be located, and the court declined to assume that the husband’s assertions regarding his wife’s preferences actually reflected her true desires for her care. Tawnya’s father is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and is critical of their Bible-based refusal to accept blood transfusions. He was able to obtain “limited guardianship” on the basis of his assertion that Tawnya’s life was being put at risk by her husband’s refusal to allow her to have a blood transfusion. The father claimed Tawnya had told him she would be willing to take a transfusion if it was necessary to save her life. Upon awakening, however, Tawnya confirmed that her husband had properly represented her wishes when he declined to allow her to be transfused (transfusion had been contemplated as potentially necessary to treat Tawnya’s condition, but it was never actually administered).


Two points emerge as significant in this guardianship conflict.

• First, had Tawnya carried a current Advance Medical Directive and Durable Power of Attorney card, had the information it contains been made part of her medical record, and had she informed her family of her stand at the time she first prepared this legally binding document, this litigation would most likely have never occurred.
• Second, it is of interest, especially in the shadow of the recent Terri Schiavo case, that guardianship of a married, adult woman no longer residing in her father’s household was so readily awarded by the Iowa judge to her father, rather than remaining with the husband. In Terry Schiavo’s case, her parents fought unsuccessfully for over nine years to get a Florida court to remove her husband as guardian (especially when he had already started a new family with another “spouse”). In the Schiavo case the husband automatically became the health care proxy for his wife, and the courts there were loth to disturb that legal relationship. The law in most states appears to provide that, when a person cannot make his or her own medical decisions and does not have a medical directive, “next of kin” assumes authority to speak for the incapacitated individual. Does the law so radically differ in Iowa, or is it only different in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses and decisions regarding blood transfusions? Under what theory of law did the Iowa court justify depriving Tawnya’s husband of guardianship?

__________________
Larry Eitel
Webmaster

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