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Medical Ethics Without the Rhetoric: Case Three, Whose Witness?

Abstract

You are working in the ER when a minor, who has been seriously injured in a car accident, comes in. The child, who is accompanied by his parents, shouts  repeatedly, “I don’t want to die.” Immediate surgery is required, and you explain the situation to the parents. They advise you that they belong to a religious group which does not permit transfusions and would rather you didn’t perform surgery if a transfusion is necessary.