Irrational conscientious refusal of medical intervention

A number of religious groups have beliefs which lead them to refuse certain forms of medical intervention, however serious and painful the circumstances. Blood transfusions may be refused which could save a life, pharmaceutical drugs may be refused; and vaccinations may be refused, endangering the lives of others (in the case of epidemic diseases for example).

Rastafarian parents, members of the Zion Ethiopian Church and strict vegans, were convicted of manslaughter of their nine-year-old daughter. They had refused insulin treatments for her, although they were told she would die without them. They chose Homeopathic and dietary alternatives instead. The girl's death from untreated diabetes in 1993 was the first case in the UK for nearly 60 years.

1. Irrationalism
2. Exploitation of patient obsession

1. Refusal of drug treatment
2. Refusal of blood transfusion

1. Threatened sects
2. Preventable child deaths
3. Failure in disease notification
4. Epidemics

1. Unsafe blood-related products
2. Superstition
3. Subordination of the individual to the medical interests of the collective
4. Risks of immunization
5. Restrictive religious practices
6. Prohibitive cost of hospital facilities
7. Medical quackery
8. Irregular hospital transportation
9. Inadequate medical facilities
10. Food fads
11. Enforced vaccination
12. Distrust of medical services
13. Discriminatory preferences in organ transplants
14. Dependence on religion
15. Dehumanization of health care
16. Cultural bias in medicine

1. Individual unfitness for survival
2. Excessive prolongation of the dying process
3. Excessive medical intervention in childbirth

1. Refusal to provide medical treatment
2. Denial of the right to medical consent
3. Denial of control over own life
4. Criminalization of euthanasia
5. Conscientious objection

1. Taking medical advice
2. Refusing medical intervention
3. Intervening medically
4. Forgoing aggressive medical treatment

1. Unconscientious
2. Refusal
3. Nonreligious
4. Maltreatment
5. Irrationality
6. Intervention
7. Ignored
8. Conscientiousness