title: Medical confidentiality and the protection of Jehovah's Witnesses' autonomous refusal of blood.
abstract: Mr Ridley of the Watch Tower Society (WTS), the controlling religious organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), mischaracterises the issue of freedom and confidentiality in JWs' refusal of blood by confusing inconsistent organisational policies with actual Biblical proscriptions. Besides exaggeration and distortion of my writings, Ridley failed to present substantive evidence to support his assertion that no pressure exists to conform to organisational policy nor systematic monitoring which compromises medical confidentiality. In this refutation, I present proof from the WTS's literature, supported by personal testimonies of JWs, that the WTS enforces its policy of blood refusal by coercive pressure to conform and through systematic violation of medical confidentiality. Ridley's lack of candour in dealing with the plea of dissident JWs for freedom to make personal and conscientious decisions regarding blood indicates that a serious breach of ethics in the medical care of JWs continues. The medical community should be seriously concerned.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Northwest Division Portland, Oregon, USA. muramotosa@kpnw.org
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Muramoto
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002835:Christianity; D003068:Coercion; D003219:Confidentiality; D003657:Decision Making; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D005610:Freedom; D006801:Humans; D033221:Jehovah's Witnesses; D008889:Military Personnel; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010358:Patient Participation; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012952:Societies; D016312:Treatment Refusal