Blood transfusions ‘not in Bible’

A KwaZulu-Natal father told the Durban High Court on Wednesday that his three-yearold daughter should not receive lifesaving blood as “it is not in the Bible”.

The man is among three sets of Jehovah’s Witness parents who have been taken to court by the KwaZulu-Natal health department to obtain an order for doctors to administer lifesaving blood transfusions to their chronically ill children.

“I am against it and so is my wife. It is against my religion‚” the man told the court.

The father told the court he understood that an interim order had been granted to allow his daughter‚ who has sickle cell anaemia‚ to receive blood – but that he planned to fight it.

In November, KwaZulu-Natal MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo and Addington Hospital specialist paediatrician Dr Noxolo Mbadi went to court for an order to allow a five-year-old boy‚ also suffering from sickle cell anaemia‚ to receive transfusions as and when necessary.

Since then‚ two more Jehovah’s Witness families were taken to court‚ where the three matters were joined and postponed to Wednesday.

“In as much as one respects the religious beliefs of the parents, they are regrettably not acting in his best interests by not consenting to a blood transfusion that could save the minor child’s life‚” Mbadi said.

The child’s condition is an abnormality of the red blood cells which contain haemoglobin that transports oxygen to the body.

When the boy’s haemoglobin count dropped to a low 3.4g/dL in November‚ doctors spoke to his parents with the assistance of a sign-language interpreter.

“Despite our best efforts they still refused to consent to a blood transfusion. They‚ in fact‚ advised that even if the minor child dies there shall be no claim against the hospital‚” Mbadi said.

Representing the five-yearold’s parents, Andrew Christison told the court they would oppose the order as there was no longer a need for it.

Christison said the boy was stable and now treated as an outpatient.

“The situation here is that the applicants approached the court saying that if the child did not get the blood transfusion‚ he would die.”

Christison confirmed that the boy did not receive the transfusion following the court order‚ but said that his condition had improved.

“This is not a case of the parents refusing medical treatment,” he said. “They are instead asking for alternatives that are within their rights.”

Representing Dhlomo‚ Dashendra Naidoo said the interim order would cover emergencies without having to go to court whenever the children needed blood transfusions.

He said all three children were suffering from a condition that was unpredictable.

The matter was postponed to February 26 with the interim order in place.