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“Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept transfusions of … plasma.”—The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 23
Plasma is the non-cellular component of whole blood. Plasma is about 90% water. The remaining 10% is a mix of various proteins, salts, enzymes, clotting factors and other.
The process
A cold centrifuge process is employed to make the products known as cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant. By freezing and controlled thawing together with centrifuging, plasma is separated into two different concentrations. One of these is called cryoprecipitate and contains a concentration of cryoglobulins such as Factor VIII, von Willebran factor and fibrinogen. The second is called cryosupernatant and it has a reduced concentration of cryoglobulins.
After centrifuging the bag of plasma is placed in an expressor apparatus and the cryosupernatant is slowly expressed (squeezed) away into a satellite bag. The portion remaining in the original bag is termed cryoprecipitate. The portion expressed into the satellite bag is termed cryosupernatant.[1] Together cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant are 100 percent of the original plasma.
Precipitate
Cryoprecipitate contains about 50% of the original Factor VIII and von Willebran factor, and about 30% of the original fibrinogen. Cryoprecipitate is a concentration of cryoglobulins because it represents about 1 percent of the original plasma volume.[2-4]
Supernatant
Cryosupernatant contains about 50% of the original Factor VIII and von Willebran factor, and about 70% of the original fibrinogen. Cryosupernatant is not a concentration of cryoglobulins because it represents about 99 percent of the original plasma volume.[2-4]
Same stuff, different concentrations
Cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant are plasma with differing concentrations of cryoglobulins. The constituents of these products are the same. The sole difference is the concentration of those constituents. That is to say, there is nothing found in one of these products that is not also found in the other as a constituent. By far the primary difference between these two blood products is that one contains nearly all the original water of the donated plasma.
Witnesses accept it
The Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine does not forbid Witnesses from accepting transfusion of cryoprecipitate or cryosupernatant, or both.[5-6] The result is that Witnesses can and do accept transfusion of cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant.[7-10] These two products are the sum total of plasma.
It is a lie to say “Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept transfusions of … plasma.”—The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 23
Marvin Shilmer
____________
References:
1. Helpful illustrations are available in the article What is Cryoprecipitated AHF? (online at http://webcls.utmb.edu:8080/coursedata/sbb/components/cryoprec.htm )
2. Hague Factor VIII study, 1991 (available online at
http://www.thermogenesis.com/CMSFiles/Pdf/Clinical/HagueFactorVIIIReport.pdf
3. Spence, Richard K, Clinical use of plasma and plasma fractions, Best Practice and Research Clinical Haematology, 2006, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 83–96
4. Clinical laboratory medicine, by Richard Ravel, 1994 p. 127
5. The Watchtower, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, June 15, 2004 p. 22
6. Awake, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, August 2006 p. 9
7. Hazel Patillo emails to and from Watchtower, March 2010 (click image for better resolution):
“Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept transfusions of … plasma.”—The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 23
Plasma is the non-cellular component of whole blood. Plasma is about 90% water. The remaining 10% is a mix of various proteins, salts, enzymes, clotting factors and other.
The process
A cold centrifuge process is employed to make the products known as cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant. By freezing and controlled thawing together with centrifuging, plasma is separated into two different concentrations. One of these is called cryoprecipitate and contains a concentration of cryoglobulins such as Factor VIII, von Willebran factor and fibrinogen. The second is called cryosupernatant and it has a reduced concentration of cryoglobulins.
After centrifuging the bag of plasma is placed in an expressor apparatus and the cryosupernatant is slowly expressed (squeezed) away into a satellite bag. The portion remaining in the original bag is termed cryoprecipitate. The portion expressed into the satellite bag is termed cryosupernatant.[1] Together cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant are 100 percent of the original plasma.
Precipitate
Cryoprecipitate contains about 50% of the original Factor VIII and von Willebran factor, and about 30% of the original fibrinogen. Cryoprecipitate is a concentration of cryoglobulins because it represents about 1 percent of the original plasma volume.[2-4]
Supernatant
Cryosupernatant contains about 50% of the original Factor VIII and von Willebran factor, and about 70% of the original fibrinogen. Cryosupernatant is not a concentration of cryoglobulins because it represents about 99 percent of the original plasma volume.[2-4]
Same stuff, different concentrations
Cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant are plasma with differing concentrations of cryoglobulins. The constituents of these products are the same. The sole difference is the concentration of those constituents. That is to say, there is nothing found in one of these products that is not also found in the other as a constituent. By far the primary difference between these two blood products is that one contains nearly all the original water of the donated plasma.
Witnesses accept it
The Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine does not forbid Witnesses from accepting transfusion of cryoprecipitate or cryosupernatant, or both.[5-6] The result is that Witnesses can and do accept transfusion of cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant.[7-10] These two products are the sum total of plasma.
It is a lie to say “Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept transfusions of … plasma.”—The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 23
Marvin Shilmer
____________
References:
1. Helpful illustrations are available in the article What is Cryoprecipitated AHF? (online at http://webcls.utmb.edu:8080/coursedata/sbb/components/cryoprec.htm )
2. Hague Factor VIII study, 1991 (available online at
http://www.thermogenesis.com/CMSFiles/Pdf/Clinical/HagueFactorVIIIReport.pdf
3. Spence, Richard K, Clinical use of plasma and plasma fractions, Best Practice and Research Clinical Haematology, 2006, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 83–96
4. Clinical laboratory medicine, by Richard Ravel, 1994 p. 127
5. The Watchtower, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, June 15, 2004 p. 22
6. Awake, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, August 2006 p. 9
7. Hazel Patillo emails to and from Watchtower, March 2010 (click image for better resolution):
8. Hill, Steven, MD, Care of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Patient Refusing Transfusion, Medically Challenging Patients Undergoing Cardiothoracic Surgery edited by Neal H. Cohan, MD, Wolters Kluwer │ Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009, pp. 327-347.
9. West, James, MD, Informed refusal — the Jehovah's Witness patient, Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology: A Case-Based Textbook, Cambridge University Press, 2010 pp. 19-26.
10. Ferraris, Severe Blood Conservation, Archives of Internal Medicine, Published online July 2, 2012, pp. E7-E8.
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