Should Jehovah's Witnesses Be Denied Intensive Chemotherapy for Acute Leukemia?

Abstract

Effective treatment of acute leukemia requires marrow-ablative chemotherapy, the success of which relies on transfusions of platelets and red cells during the period of marrow aplasia.¹ The patient with acute leukemia who is a Jehovah's Witness and refuses blood transfusion poses a special challenge and an ethical dilemma for the physician.² These patients are often denied intensive chemotherapy for fear they cannot survive it without blood support. We describe a man who was a Jehovah's Witness and who was twice treated successfully with marrow-ablative chemotherapy for his acute leukemia without blood transfusion.