Study: Many Americans Believe God More Powerful at Saving Lives Than
Doctors
Monday, August 18, 2008
When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans.
An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine
intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors
"need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a
miracle."
More than half of randomly surveyed adults -- 57 percent -- said God's
intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared
treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients
have a right to demand such treatment.
When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or
injured, nearly 20 percent of doctors and other medical workers said
God could reverse a hopeless outcome.
"Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting
relationship" with patients and their families, according to
researchers. That trust, they said, is needed to help doctors explain
objective, overwhelming scientific evidence showing that continued
treatment would be worthless.
Pat Loder, a Milford, Mich., woman whose two young children were
killed in a 1991 car crash, said she clung to a belief that God would
intervene when things looked hopeless.
"When you're a parent and you're standing over the body of your child
who you think is dying ... you have to have that" belief, Loder said.
While doctors should be prepared to deal with those beliefs, they also
shouldn't "sugarcoat" the truth about a patient's condition, Loder
said.
Being honest in a sensitive way helps family members make excruciating
decisions about whether to let dying patients linger, or allow doctors
to turn off life-prolonging equipment so that organs can be donated,
Loder said.
Loder was driving when a speeding motorcycle slammed into the family's
car. Both children were rushed unconscious to hospitals, and Loder
says she believes doctors did everything they could. They were not
able to revive her 5-year-old son; soon after her 8-year-old daughter
was declared brain dead.
She said her beliefs about divine intervention have changed.
"I have become more of a realist," she said. "I know that none of us
are immune from anything."
Loder was not involved in the survey, which appears in Monday's
Archives of Surgery.
It involved 1,000 U.S. adults randomly selected to answer questions by
telephone about their views on end-of-life medical care. They were
surveyed in 2005, along with 774 doctors, nurses and other medical
workers who responded to mailed questions.
Survey questions mostly dealt with untimely deaths from trauma such as
accidents and violence. These deaths are often particularly tough on
relatives because they are more unexpected than deaths from lingering
illnesses such as cancer, and the patients tend to be younger.
Dr. Lenworth Jacobs, a University of Connecticut surgery professor and
trauma chief at Hartford Hospital, was the lead author.
He said trauma treatment advances have allowed patients who previously
would have died at the scene to survive longer. That shift means
hospital trauma specialists "are much more heavily engaged in the
death process," he said.
Jacobs said he frequently meets people who think God will save their
dying loved one and who want medical procedures to continue.
"You can't say, 'That's nonsense.' You have to respect that" and try
to show them X-rays, CAT scans and other medical evidence indicating
death is imminent, he said.
Relatives need to know that "it's not that you don't want a miracle to
happen, it's just that is not going to happen today with this
patient," he said.
Families occasionally persist and hospitals have gone to court seeking
to stop medical treatment doctors believe is futile, but such cases
are quite rare.
Dr. Michael Sise, trauma medical director at Scripps Mercy Hospital in
San Diego, called the study "a great contribution" to one of the most
intense issues doctors face.
Sise, a Catholic doctor working in a Catholic hospital, said miracles
don't happen when medical evidence shows death is near.
"That's just not a realistic situation," he said.
Sise recalled a teenager severely injured in a gang beating who died
soon afterward at his hospital.
The mother "absolutely did not want to withdraw" medical equipment
despite the severity of her child's brain injuries, which ensured she
would never wake up, Sise said. "The mom was playing religious tapes
in the room, and obviously was very focused on looking for a miracle."
Claudia McCormick, a nurse and trauma program director at Duke
University Hospital, said she also has never seen that kind of
miracle. But her niece's recovery after being hit by a boat while
inner-tubing earlier this year came close.
The boat backed into her and its propeller "caught her in the side of
the head. She had no pulse when they pulled her out of the water,"
McCormick said.
Doctors at the hospital where she was airlifted said "it really
doesn't look good." And while it never reached the point where
withdrawing lifesaving equipment was discussed, McCormick recalled one
of her doctors saying later: '"God has plans for this child. I never
thought she'd be here."'
Like many hospitals, Duke uses a team approach to help relatives deal
with dying trauma victims, enlisting social workers, grief counselors
and chaplains to work with doctors and nurses.
If the family still says, "We just can't shut that machine off, then,
you know what, we can't shut that machine off," McCormick said.
"Sometimes," she said, "you might have a family that's having a hard
time and it might take another day, and that's OK."
This is what happens when people confuse the concept of 'fate' with
God.
Neither of us will live long enough to understand what that really
means....
>More than half of randomly surveyed adults -- 57 percent -- said God's
>intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared
>treatment would be futile.
Er...so? It's not like God is likely to actually do it.
Gee, they don't think that in Canada or Britain, Patriot. Could this
be yet another argument for socialized medicine?
........or socialized religion. I love the way folks imbue "God" with
human characteristics and traits. Hint: If you can define "God" then
she isn't "God".
WB Yeats
PS: Keep those tires filled with all that hot air, PG.
Its that mostly irrelevant?
Isn't the fact that miracle-like events happen interesting enough?
Oops! No cite....
>Could this be yet another argument for socialized medicine?
Probably not....
Whatever you say, Jiffy Boy!
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!
On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:28:23 -0700, WBY...@Ireland.com wrote:
>On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:01:26 -0400, Patriot Games
>>Most Americans get their cars serviced regularly where their tires are
>>also checked.
>Cite? They don't. Many, many folks get their oil changed at places
>like Jiffy Lube where they don't check tires.
A Jiffy Lube Signature Service® Oil Change is more than an oil change.
It's a preventative maintenance program that enhances the reliability
and longevity of your vehicle. Our technicians will:
Change the oil with up to five (5) quarts of quality motor oil
Replace oil filter
Visually Inspect:
- antifreeze/coolant reservoir levels
- engine air filtration system
- serpentine belts
- brake fluid level in transparent reservoirs
- wiper blades
- exterior lights
Vacuum interior floors
Clean exterior of windows
Lubricate the chassis (when applicable)
Check tire pressure
Check and top off the following fluids:
- transmission/transaxle fluids
- differential fluid
- power steering fluid
- windshield washer fluid
- battery water (excluding sealed batteries)
http://www.jiffylube.com/autoservices/signatureservice.aspx
Thanks for making a fool of yourself in public and saving me the time.
>On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:03:47 -0700, WBY...@Ireland.com wrote:
>>On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:31:38 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Kraus
>><jkrau...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>On Aug 19, 8:22 am, Patriot Games <Patr...@America.Com> wrote:
>>>> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405765,00.html
>>>> Study: Many Americans Believe God More Powerful at Saving Lives Than
>>>> Doctors
>>>> Monday, August 18, 2008
>>>Gee, they don't think that in Canada or Britain, Patriot. Could this
>>>be yet another argument for socialized medicine?
>>........or socialized religion. I love the way folks imbue "God" with
>>human characteristics and traits. Hint: If you can define "God" then
>>she isn't "God".
>>WB Yeats
>>PS: Keep those tires filled with all that hot air, PG.
>
>Whatever you say, Jiffy Boy!
>
>Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!
What you don't seem to realize is that all of this is excess crap.
Most people don't know the correct pressure of their tires, and most
folks don't keep their tires at optimum pressure no matter what your
survey said. Bridgestone and the NTSB both are sources for this but
as they are not Fox, Newsmax, or World Nut Daily yadda yadda yadda. Go
away loser.
WB Yeats
Sure! Anything you say, Jiffy Boy!
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!
On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:28:23 -0700, WBY...@Ireland.com wrote:
>On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:23:25 GMT, David Johnston <da...@block.net>
>wrote:
>>On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:22:40 -0400, Patriot Games
>><Pat...@America.Com> wrote:
>>>More than half of randomly surveyed adults -- 57 percent -- said God's
>>>intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared
>>>treatment would be futile.
>>Er...so? It's not like God is likely to actually do it.
>
>Its that mostly irrelevant?
No. It's the essential issue.
>
>Isn't the fact that miracle-like events happen interesting enough?
It might be, but that really is irrelevant. The survey didn't ask
whether any of those people had ever experienced a miracle-like event.
It just asked whether they thought that God could do a miracle if he
felt like it. That doesn't mean It ever feels like it.