A 44-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with necrotizing pancreatitis. She had significant blood loss and a dropping hematocrit. With the severity of her condition, death was imminent. Both the resident and the attending were aware the patient was a Jehovah's Witness. She had been intubated and was in ICU where she was told by the attending that he would not perform surgery without a blood transfusion and that, without the surgery, she would die.
The insured attending felt the patient was competent when she nodded her consent for a blood transfusion. He contacted the hospital's in-house counsel, who recommended doing “what was medically necessary.” The patient’s husband, who had a handwritten note from his wife stating “please don't let me die,” gave oral permission for the blood transfusion.
After permission was obtained, the patient was taken to surgery and given blood transfusions. Over a four month hospitalization, the patient underwent more than 20 procedures with more than 30 transfusions.