The religious and the medical profession

[Noaidi]

If you are involved in the medical profession and are religious, what view takes precedence: do intercessary prayers take priority over established medical science? Which one provides a more effective cure?

 

[Twilight Hue]

I happen to work for a Catholic health facility, and can assure you that such things like intercessory prayer in no way interfere with the science involved and required for patient care. I don't partake in the religious aspects, but can vouch that the two remain exclusive at least where I work. Personally I view spiritual care (Involving Multi-faith disciplines as well) as something that can be beneficial for a patient's mental well being, and the science as beneficial in direct treatment of an illness or injury.

-NM-

 

[Noaidi]

I happen to work for a Catholic health facility, and can assure you that such things like intercessory prayer in no way interfere with the science involved and required for patient care. I don't partake in the religious aspects, but can vouch that the two remain exclusive at least where I work. Personally I view spiritual care (Involving Multi-faith disciplines as well) as something that can be beneficial for a patient's mental well being, and the science as beneficial in direct treatment of an illness or injury.

-NM-

Thanks for that, Nowhere Man. I can see how the faith aspect relates to the psychological well-being of a patient.

As a general, open question: are there any instances where religious belief takes precedence over medical science? Are there any cases where a medical, and religious, doctor will advocate a religious approach to an ailment? If not, why not? Is faith in their god's healing ability not greater than our merely human construct of 'medical science'?

 

[Tiapan]

If a 4 year old child presents with trauma and severe loss of blood and you begin a transfusion. The parents object on religious grounds, what do you do?

Cheers

 

[Noaidi]

If a 4 year old child presents with trauma and severe loss of blood and you begin a transfusion. The parents object on religious grounds, what do you do?

Cheers

Save the child. No religious belief should obstruct the saving of a life. Let the parents take you to court for 'infringement of their rights'. The fact is you've saved their child.

 

[Twilight Hue]

If a 4 year old child presents with trauma and severe loss of blood and you begin a transfusion. The parents object on religious grounds, what do you do?

Cheers

It actually depends on the laws implemented in the residing state that determine a successful or tragic conclusion of which either supports or overrides a parents religious objections concerning their children. -NM-

 

[Riverwolf]

If you are involved in the medical profession and are religious, what view takes precedence: do intercessary prayers take priority over established medical science? Which one provides a more effective cure?

I don't practice medical science, and I admit I have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of taking pills.

But if I were a doctor in the established medical field, helping patients through established medical means would be my first priority.

 

[Riverwolf]

If a 4 year old child presents with trauma and severe loss of blood and you begin a transfusion. The parents object on religious grounds, what do you do?

Unfortunately, yet understandably, doctors can't force people to come to the hospital.

I'd inform the parents that if the child doesn't get the required medical care, he or she will certainly die. If the parents still refuse to comply, I'd warn them that if they refuse and the child dies, I'd charge them with homicide.

Unless there's some sort of legal action I'd be able to take before the child dies... would this kind of thing fall under abuse?

My priority would be saving lives, and if someone has a problem with that, I'd do everything within my power to do it.

 

[Riverwolf]

Save the child. No religious belief should obstruct the saving of a life. Let the parents take you to court for 'infringement of their rights'. The fact is you've saved their child.

And if the child stays with the parents, chances are they'd reject him or her.

 

[ZooGirl02]

Personally, I don't think that religion and medicine should mix for the most part. Sure, praying for one's health is fine but when it comes to a Catholic pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription for birth control or a Jehovah's Witness doctor refusing to perform a blood transfusion, it crosses the line.

 

[Nerthus]

In all cases from what I have seen - religion was kept separate from treatment. Staff were not allowed to pray to/with patients and definitely not allowed to preach or try and convert them to a religion so that they were saved. But, of course the spiritual needs of patients were looked after, but there are the appropriate people for that.

 

[Melvin.George]

If you are involved in the medical profession and are religious, what view takes precedence: do intercessary prayers take priority over established medical science? Which one provides a more effective cure?

In the 1940's and 1950's cancer and heart disease were the big killers. Every family either had a member or a close friend who was ailing from one or the other.

On Wednesday evenings prayer meetings in churches all over the nation had prayer lists a foot long. Billions of prayers were said and the patients suffered and died anyway.

In those days there was no treatment for coronary problems and if one suffered from cancer the only thing the medical profession could do was surgical. Usually if they operated the cancer metasticized and the patient died within a year or so. If one survived the first heart attack they usually laid around and died within a year or two.

Now there are better diets, anti smoking campaigns, filtered cigarettes, government studies and recommendations, sophisticated diagnostic machines, stents, bypass surgery, heart transplants, chemo, radiation, stem cell transplants, etc. and the same type patients live on into their eighties and sometimes nineties.

Prayer didn't have anything to do with them dying 60 years ago and it doesn't have anything to do with their living now.