=?X-UNKNOWN?Q?PRESS_RELEASE_-_JEHOVAH'S_WITNESSES_APPROVE_USE?= =?X-UNKNOWN?Q?_OF_HEMOPURE=AE_?=
Jan Groenveld
Folks, this is an important issue! Please, Pass this onto everyone you know wo
has or has had any connection at all with the WTS, and have them pass it on etc
etc. It will save lives if we can educate people!
AJWRB - http://www.ajwrb.org
ASSOCIATED JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES FOR REFORM ON BLOOD - A.J.W.R.B.
Public Affairs Office P.O. Box 1034, Newark, CA, 94560-6034
Voicemail: (510) 401-8022 Fax: (510) 401-8022
Web site: http://www.ajwrb.org Email: in...@ajwrb.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2000
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES APPROVE USE OF HEMOPURE®
Jehovah's Witnesses have long been known for their rejection of blood and
blood-component transfusion, even when it is necessary to save life. In a
remarkable change in policy, the Witnesses' governing body announced in
the June 15, 2000 issue of its official church publication The Watchtower,
that members may now accept "fractions of any of the primary components"
of blood. (Italics added) Previously, Witnesses who accepted a
transfusion of blood fractions other than those found in plasma faced
possible expulsion and enforced shunning by church members.
This change in policy was particularly timely for one man. According to a
September 24, 2000 article in the Sacramento Bee, a patient was recently
transfused with Hemopure®, a highly purified oxygen-carrying hemoglobin
solution made from fractionated bovine (cow) blood and manufactured by
Biopure Corporation.
(See: http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local08_20000924.html for the story.)
Dorsey Griffith, a medical writer for the Bee, states that Gregory Brown,
a representative from the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison Committee,
approved the use of the oxygen-carrying solution that was transfused into
the patient, Jose Orduño. The article notes: "When Orduño woke up from
his drug-induced slumber, about a month after the ordeal began, Angelica
was there .His sister told him about the accident and how he almost died,
and about the drug made from cow blood that had saved his life."
That approval of the use of hemoglobin marks a notable change in the
WatchTower Society's policy is readily seen from its own published
statements:
"Is it wrong to sustain life by administering a transfusion of blood or
plasma or red cells or others of the component parts of the blood?
Yes!...The prohibition includes "any blood at all." (Leviticus 3:17) -
Blood, Medicine and the Law of God, 1961, pp. 13, 14
".various tonics and tablets sold by druggists show on their labels that
they contain blood fractions such as hemoglobin. So it is necessary for
one to be alert. if they are to keep themselves 'without spot from the
world.'-Jas. 1:27." The Watchtower, 9/15/61, p. 557.
"Early in man's history, our Creator ruled that humans should not eat
blood. (Genesis 9:3, 4) He stated that blood represents life, which is a
gift from him. Blood removed from a creature could be used only in
sacrifice, such as on the altar. Otherwise, blood from a creature was to
be poured on the ground, in a sense giving it back to God ...It would be
right, of course, to avoid products that listed things such as blood,
blood plasma, plasma, globin (or globulin) protein, or hemoglobin (or
globin) iron." The Watchtower, 10/15/92 - Questions From Readers.
(Italics added)
As recently as 1998 two officials from the Watchtower Society's "Hospital
Information Services" wrote that Jehovah's Witnesses "do not accept
hemoglobin which is a major part of red blood cells.... Jehovah's
Witnesses do not accept a blood substitute which uses hemoglobin taken
from a human or animal source." Bailey R, Ariga T. The view of Jehovah's
Witnesses on blood substitutes. Artif Cells Blood Substit Immobil
Biotechnol 1998;26:571-576.
The policy on hemoglobin and other blood fractions was changed in the June
15, 2000 issue of The Watchtower. This latest change may in fact cause
further confusion for many Witnesses since products like Hemopure® are
derived from large quantities of stored animal blood. Numerous witnesses
have questioned the logic of such an internally inconsistent dogma. Some
believe that the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses is simply changing
its long-standing doctrine gradually to avoid legal problems anticipated
with an overt change to a policy that has resulted in so many deaths over
the years.
Hemopure® is currently being evaluated for human use in a pivotal,
multinational Phase III clinical trial. Biopure expects to complete this
trial and file Biologic License Applications (BLA's) in the United States,
European Union and Canada in 2001 for perioperative use in elective
surgeries. The company has already applied for marketing approval of
Hemopure® in South Africa with a proposed product indication to eliminate
or reduce red blood cell transfusions in elective surgeries. Biopure is
also investigating the product's use in trauma, to oxygenate hypoxic
tumors, and in conditions where tissue oxygenation may be beneficial but
blood is not normally transfused.
The "compassionate use" program makes Hemopure® available where a
life-threatening situation exists and compatible red blood cell
transfusion is 1) not available, 2) not effective, or 3) not acceptable to
the patient. Requests for "compassionate use" availability of Hemopure®
may come from the family or doctor of the patient; thereafter the patient,
the patient's medical institution, and Biopure must approve the request,
which is then forwarded along with details of the case for final approval
by the FDA. Approval is made on a case-by-case basis, and in those cases
where it has been approved, it has been made available within a few days.
Requests for information regarding "compassionate use" approval of
Hemopure® should be directed to Jan Anderson, R.N., of Biopure. Her
telephone number is 617-234-6827. For further information see the Biopure
website at: http://www.biopure.com.
A.J.W.R.B. welcomes the recent developments but will continue to work for
further revisions in the Watchtower Society's blood policy. We believe
that Jehovah's Witnesses should have a free choice in their medical
treatment without controls or sanctions from the Watchtower Society that
could separate them from their religious community or Jehovah's Witness
family members and friends.
For complete documentation and further analysis of these developments
visit the official site of the "Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform
on Blood" at http://www.ajwrb.org.
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS PRESS RELEASE TO INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS.
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The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, is a diverse group
of Witnesses from over 25 countries, including elders and other
organization officials, Hospital Liaison Committee members, doctors, and
members of the general public who have volunteered their time and energies
in an effort to bring about an end to a tragic and misguided policy that
has claimed thousands of lives, many of them children.
Website: http://www.ajwrb.org Email: in...@ajwrb.org
AJWRB - P.O. Box 190089 - Boise, ID 83719-0089 U.S.A.
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