Advance Directives, Surrogate Decision-Maker Disagreement, and Religious Commitments

Bioethics for the People

Dr. Birgitta Sujdak Mackiewicz shares a haunting clinical ethics consultation case that raises issues about advance care planning, the preferences of a patient and surrogate decision-makers, and religious commitments. Every patient brings with them a complex set of interests, wishes, values, and commitments. How should healthcare decisions be made when these all come into conflict?

Dr. Birgitta Sujdak Mackiewicz, PhD, is the Regional Director of Ethics at OSF Healthcare, in Central Illinois. She has a doctorate in Healthcare Ethics from the Gneagi Center for Healthcare Ethics at Saint Louis University. Before taking on a Regional role, she was the Director of Ethics at OSFHC Saint Francis Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Illinois for 15 years.

Some of Dr. Mackiewicz’s Publications:

• Birgitta Sujdak Mackiewicz & Stephen Thompson (2017) When Trust in God Means Preemptive Refusal of C-Section, The American Journal of Bioethics, 17:1, 94-96, DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2016.1251639

• Birgitta N. Sujdak Mackiewicz (2016) Good Ethics Begin With Good Facts, The American Journal of Bioethics, 16:7, 66-68, DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2016.1180447

More Reading about Jehovah’s Witness Beliefs and Healthcare:

• Thomas McCormick (2008) Ethical Issues Inherent to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Perioperative Nursing Clinics, 3:3, 253-258 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpen.2008.04.007

• West, James M.. Ethical issues in the care of Jehovah's Witnesses. Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology 27(2):p 170-176, April 2014. | DOI: 10.1097/ACO.0000000000000053

• Ally McInroy, Blood transfusion and Jehovah’s Witnesses: the Legal and Ethical Issues, British Journal of Nursing, 14:5 DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2005.14.5.17663