Doctor in the emergency room, not the present situation, but, it illustrates well the emotions felt by the doctors when the parents refused treatment for their child.
In a Kamchatka court, doctors defended their right to save the life of a six-year-old girl whose parents were against it due to their religious convictions. Early on Wednesday, the Procurator’s Office of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky received a message from Lukashevsky Regional Hospital of Kamchatka region that the parents of a six-year old girl refused to give their approval for a blood transfusion to their daughter, who was in the casualty ward with a serious cranio-cerebral injury, Assistant Regional Attorney Olga Filatova said Thursday to Interfax. The parents refused the treatment prescribed because they are members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect. Ms Filatova said their refusal was due to their claim that “their religious beliefs assert that such a procedure is harmful”.
According to an order from the Procurator’s Office and under the applicable family laws, the relevant guardianship and trusteeship authority approved the blood transfusion to save the child’s life. During the session in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky municipal court, the girl’s parents and their numerous confederates continued to insist on their right to refuse treatment to the child, regardless of the fact that the girl’s condition worsened with every hour. The court decided that the doctors could immediately start a transfusion because it could save the child’s life. Now, the girl is in serious condition, but, her condition is improving. The Procurator’s Office started an investigation of the parents in view of the fact that they failed to perform their duties, which include the protection of their child’s life and safety.
3 July 2008
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25271
Editor’s Note:
Sanity prevails. Blood transfusion is an accepted medical procedure opposed by no major religious group from Amish to Zoroastrians! The little girl’s life was in imminent danger, and the doctors were right to override the bigoted objections of the sectarian parents.
This shows the danger of sectarianism. All major religious bodies respect medicine and doctors, and urge believers to seek medical attention when needed. There is something wrong with a group that goes against this universal teaching. If adults wish to be nutters and hold squiffy ideas, that is one thing, but, to harm a child due to such is beyond the pale.
God bless the doctors and the court for acting swiftly to save the little girl’s life.
BMD
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