Abstract
On April 15th 1999, the Improvement Review Committee of the Ministry of Public Welfare, after considering the needs of State medical examinations, presented its final report. According to the report, it emphasized the need for medical students to respect the moral values and human rights of the patient. We feel that there is a need to educate medical students in regards to ethics, so that they may become doctors who fully understand the matter of informed consent from the standpoint of the patient in treating them. In fact, several universities are providing education on the matter of ethics for their medical students. One example is that of the Osaka Medical College, where there was a small group learning session, concerning the case study of the refusal of blood transfusions on religious grounds by Jehovah's Witnesses. We make report about contents of the lectures which consist of : 1. [Who Jehovah's Witnesses are.], 2. [Ethical standpoint of Jehovah's witnesses toward medicine], 3. [The court case because of transfusing blood to a Witness patient without admittance], 4. [Why it became court case.], 5. [It should be discussed even how we should view life and medical ethics], 6. [To establish real informed consent], 7. [Guidance by Ministry of Public Welfare], 8. [Conclusion]. Additionally, at some medical universities representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses have taught the matter of ethics education. We will introduce the results of using the refusal of blood transfusion on religious grounds as part of education in ethics for medical students.
