Religion and drugs

A UK Department of Health document published earlier this year, Religion or Belief: A Practical Guide for the NHS,1 is concerned with how religious beliefs might best be complied with in healthcare settings. It argues that this is important to improve wellbeing and outcomes. There are also legal reasons why it may be important to consider a patient’s religious beliefs. In the United Kingdom, the right to follow your religion and beliefs is protected under article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which covers freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. And the Equality Act 2006 makes it illegal for services to discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief.23 These acts make it a requirement for healthcare workers to accommodate the religious beliefs of their patients where possible.1

A favourite question of medical ethics examiners is the dilemma of Jehovah’s Witness patients who refuse blood products because of their