Poll - Jehovah's Witness Patient Among Baixada Santista and ABC Paulista Cardiologists

4. Grinberg M, Chehaibar GZ. Enquete Testemunha de Jeová. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2010;95(6):765-6. References DOI: 10.5935/abc.20130133 Dear Editor, In the national and international1-3 medical literature, there is a growing number of manuscripts that focus on bioethics on the medical conduct. A relevant point is the potential for conflict between the benefit (the standpoint of a prudent and diligent doctor) and the patients’ autonomy (depending on their preferences and values). One of these realities is the health care to Jehovah’s Witness (JW) where the transfusion of blood has an undisputable clinical indication. Grinberg and Chehaibar4 observed that only 56.7% of the Brazilian cardiologists interviewed accept to provide health care to JW and 40% of them would not transfuse blood under any circumstances. An identical research study we conducted with 85 cardiologists affiliated with the regional branches of ABC and Santos of the Cardiology Society of the State of São Paulo revealed, compared with the national headquarters of the Society of Cardiology, a higher percentage of colleagues who accept to provide health care to JW (65.9%) and those who, among them, would not transfuse blood under any circumstances (47.3%). A significant aspect was the identification of a trend of young cardiologists (> 50 years old) whose accepted to provide health care to JW and not performing blood transfusion compared to older cardiologists.