Young Jehovah’s Witness who refused a blood transfusion is allowed to die

A 22 year old Jehovah’s Witness with sickle cell anaemia has recently been allowed to die in the United Kingdom after refusing a blood transfusion, the lawyer advising the NHS trust caring for him has announced.

Robert Tobin, a partner in the law firm Kennedys, was consulted because doctors were reluctant to let the man, who was in a sickle cell crisis, die when such a simple procedure could have saved his life.1

Doctors “looked into the possibility of alternative products, but the …