Sign Up for Newsletter
Your Support

In two steps six months apart, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses made a significant change to its guidance on transfusion medicine by moving decisions about the use of a patient’s own blood, and then about red cells, platelets, plasma, and white cells from donated blood, into the realm of personal conscience and decision-making. Hematology and oncology use these components more than almost any other medical field. For oncologists and hematologists, the change reopens an important, personalized conversation with their patients. For patients who choose to accept these components, evidence-based transfusion support is now within reach, while the patient blood management methods refined in this community remain as relevant as ever.

Key Takeaways
  • Since March 20, 2026, Jehovah’s Witnesses, a global community of about 9.2 million people in more than 200 countries and territories, may decide individually whether their own blood is collected, stored, and reinfused [1][2].
  • Since September 18, 2026, acceptance of red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma from donated blood, and donation of blood for component use, are matters of individual conscience. Transfusion of donated whole blood remains outside current guidance [2].
  • Current international guidelines use restrictive thresholds: red cells below 7 g/dL and prophylactic platelets below 10 × 10⁹/L during chemotherapy, with no routine prophylactic platelets after autologous transplant [3][4].
  • Each component is now a separate decision. Care teams should review advance directives signed before September 18, 2026, with each patient before high-risk phases of care.
  • Transfusion-free care in Witness patients helped shape modern patient blood management, which uses blood conservation techniques and strategies to minimize blood loss and avoid donor blood products. These methods continue to reduce how much blood any patient needs.

The clinical baseline

Few areas of medicine depend on blood components as heavily as hematology and oncology. Induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is routinely given with red cell and platelet support to carry patients through profound cytopenias [5]. Without that support, many physicians have been reluctant to give myelosuppressive therapy at all, and, as a result, some Jehovah’s Witness patients may have missed out on potentially curative therapy [5].

Myelosuppression is a predictable consequence of most intensive cancer therapy. In acute leukemia, it is often present at diagnosis and deepens with induction; in transplantation and cellular therapy, marrow aplasia, also known as aplastic anemia, is part of the treatment course. Red cell and platelet transfusion is the standard bridge across these periods.

The 2023 Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) international guideline recommends considering red cell transfusion below a hemoglobin of 7 g/dL in hemodynamically stable hospitalized adults, and extends this, as a conditional recommendation, to adults with hematologic and solid malignancies [3]. It also quantifies per-unit risk: circulatory overload in about 1 in 125 units, febrile reactions in about 1 in 161, and allergic reactions in about 1 in 345 [3]. The 2025 AABB and International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines (ICTMG) platelet guideline recommends prophylactic transfusion below 10 × 10⁹/L in nonbleeding patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia from chemotherapy or allogeneic transplant and advises against routine prophylaxis after autologous transplant [4].

Sign Up for Newsletter
Your Support

Clinicians caring for Jehovah’s Witness patients who declined all components have managed these cytopenias without that support, often choosing lower-intensity regimens or delaying or switching therapeutic options partly to limit marrow toxicity [5]. In a Polish single-center study of eight Witness patients with acute leukemia or lymphoma, the median platelet nadir was 8 × 10⁹/L, and anemia contributed to three of six deaths [6]. All but one of the patients with acute leukemia died shortly after diagnosis [6]. Selected patients reached complete remission, but the authors described the overall outcome of this series as very poor [6].

Advertisement #3

A 2026 Mayo Clinic series of 11 Jehovah’s Witness patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or high-grade myeloid neoplasms who declined transfusion reported a median overall survival of 5.7 months [7]. Supportive care centered on erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs), vitamin K, antifibrinolytics, oxygen, and 0.5 mL micro-draws [7]. No patient died of major hemorrhage; two died of cardiac events at hemoglobin levels of 2.4 and 1.8 g/dL [7]. In this study, severe anemia rather than bleeding was the limiting factor.

The 2026 guidance

This clinical picture is now changing, not because of a new drug, but because of a change in religious guidance. In 2026, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses revised its position on blood twice: first, in March, on a patient’s use of their own blood, then, in September, on accepting the four primary components of donated blood [1][2]. The change affects a global community of about 9.2 million members in more than 200 countries and territories, including an estimated 1.3 million in the United States [2].

March 20, 2026: a patient’s own blood

The first revision clarified how members may use their own blood during medical and surgical care [8]. Members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses community may now decide whether to have their own blood collected, stored, and later reinfused, which earlier guidance generally ruled out [1].

The practical scope is narrow. According to an Associated Press (AP) report, the typical use is a planned operation in which heavy blood loss is anticipated, so blood can be collected beforehand [9]. Blood stored this way is for the member’s own future treatment, not for anyone else [2]. The prohibition on allogeneic transfusion was left unchanged [1]. The organization’s Governing Body said that its underlying view of blood as sacred had not changed [9].

September 18, 2026: the four primary components

The second and far larger revision followed six months later. In a video update described as an adjustment to its position on blood components, released in English first with a companion question-and-answer article and a chart of blood-derived products, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses moved all four primary components of donated blood into the realm of individual conscience and decision-making. [10]

Announcing the change, Governing Body member Geoffrey W. Jackson said each member must decide for themselves whether to use these components in any medical or surgical setting [2]. The update also lets members decide whether to donate blood for the preparation of components used to treat others [2].

The organization did not present this as a casual choice. Paul Gillies, the organization’s international spokesperson, told the Associated Press that members are expected to decide what is acceptable to them through prayer and personal Bible study, given the significance Scripture attaches to blood as a symbol of life [2]. For clinicians, the practical meaning is straightforward: a Jehovah’s Witness patient may now accept one, several, or all four components, or none, without departing from current guidance. [2][10]

However, transfusion of donated whole blood remains prohibited, as does donating whole blood for that purpose [2][10]. Clinicians should therefore not read the September update as a full reversal. It shifts the four separated components into the same category of personal choice that blood fractions already occupied [10, 11].

From whole blood to components and fractions

The guidance follows the way blood is processed. Centrifugation separates whole blood into red cells, platelets, and plasma; apheresis collects granulocytes; and plasma is fractionated into purified proteins such as albumin, immunoglobulins, and clotting factor concentrates. Decisions about fractions were left to individual conscience well before 2026.

In a retrospective review of 41 Jehovah’s Witness patients on a gynecologic oncology service at a bloodless surgery center, none was willing to receive whole blood or any of the four primary components, whatever the situation [11]. Yet 98% accepted at least some fractions, and all accepted intraoperative hemodilution [11]. The distinction extends into hematology because some ESA formulations contain human albumin [7].

Leukemia, transplantation, and cellular therapy

The September update concerns the products hematologists use every day. Supportive care during intensive treatment is given as red cell and platelet components, not whole blood. For patients who now choose to accept those components, the main obstacle to standard therapy is removed.

Acute leukemia.
Published experience in adult Jehovah’s Witness patients describes treatment adapted to the absence of component support [13]. Azacitidine (Vidaza; Bristol Myers Squibb) with venetoclax (Venclexta; AbbVie and Genentech) in AML, and arsenic trioxide (Trisenox; Teva Pharmaceuticals)* with all-trans retinoic acid (tretinoin; Vesanoid)† in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a rare, aggressive subtype of AML defined by the t(15;17) translocation, which creates the PML::RARA fusion gene and causes abnormal promyelocytes to accumulate in the bone marrow, have produced remissions without transfusion.[5]

In the Mayo Clinic study, a patient with Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL completed eight cycles of Hyper-CVAD‡ with dasatinib (Sprycel; Bristol Myers Squibb), while hemoglobin remained at or above 9 g/dL with proactive ESA support and romiplostim (Nplate; Amgen) [7]. ESAs available in the United States include epoetin alfa (Epogen; Amgen, also marketed as Procrit; Janssen) and darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp; Amgen).

These approaches have produced remissions, but they were selected around the transfusion constraint rather than purely on disease biology [5][13]. For a Jehovah’s Witness patient who now accepts platelets and red cells, regimen selection can rest on disease biology and fitness, while the patient can be considered for the same induction therapy as any other patient.

Autologous transplantation.
High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is standard for multiple myeloma (MM) and several lymphomas. In conventional practice, an ASCT recipient typically receives one to two units of red cells and two platelet transfusions, with most centers transfusing when hemoglobin falls below 7 g/dL or platelet count falls below 10 × 10⁹/L [14].

Experienced centers have shown that transplant without transfusion is feasible and safe. At Cedars-Sinai, 66 Jehovah’s Witness patients who underwent transfusion-free ASCT between 2000 and 2018 had a one-year overall survival of 87.9%, identical to that of 1,114 transfusion-supported recipients; transplant-related mortality was 2.9% [14]. Bleeding occurred in 17.1% of transplants, mostly at platelet nadirs below 5 × 10⁹/L [14]. These findings are consistent with the 2025 AABB and ICTMG guideline, which reserves platelets after ASCT for bleeding [4].

Bloodless transplant programs are relatively scarce, which has meant late referrals and long journeys for many patients [14]. Platelet acceptance does not make these programs obsolete, but it widens where an individual patient can be treated safely. Jehovah’s Witness patients who accept platelets now have an option at centers without a dedicated bloodless program.

CAR T-cell therapy.§
Hematologic toxicities associated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy frequently require transfusion support. However, transfusion-free CAR T-cell therapy in Jehovah’s Witness patients has been reported [15]. In one case, severe and prolonged cytopenias after CD19-directed therapy were managed without transfusion, and the patient remained in remission five years later [16].

In another more recent case at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California, investigators evaluated the feasibility of administering CAR T-cell therapy without transfusion support in Jehovah’s Witness patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL). Between March 2018 and May 2024, six Jehovah’s Witness patients, aged 23 to 57 years, received CAR T-cell therapy after one to four prior lines of treatment. Two had previously undergone bloodless autologous stem cell transplantation. None had bone marrow involvement, five had normal baseline hemograms, and all had low CAR-HEMATOTOX scores (0–1). Pretreatment management included iron replacement and ESA support to target hemoglobin of ≥11 g/dL. Three patients received bridging therapy with hematologic recovery before lymphodepletion. All received fludarabine/cyclophosphamide (Flu/Cy) lymphodepletion followed by axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta®; Kite) (n=5) or tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah®; Novartis) (n=1). Anemia and thrombocytopenia were predominantly grade 0–2 (CTCAE v5.0). One patient developed grade 3 anemia, which resolved without transfusion. [17]

This case series indicates that bloodless CAR T-cell therapy is feasible and safe in carefully selected Jehovah’s Witness patients with R/R LBCL. The investigators reported that favorable baseline hematologic status, absence of bone marrow involvement, hematologic optimization, and close monitoring were important components of care.[17]

Patient blood management in oncology

Surgical oncology shows how far blood management can go. The Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Johns Hopkins, launched in 2012, applies these methods to pancreatic, liver, thoracic, spinal, and other complex oncologic operations [18]. Its approach rests on two goals: limiting blood loss and optimizing hemoglobin and coagulation before, during, and after surgery [18, 19]. In risk-adjusted analyses, outcomes for patients enrolled in the program were equivalent to or better than those of patients who accepted transfusion [19].

Two cases from the center illustrate the method [18]. A 68-year-old Witness patient with pancreatic cancer received two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and oral iron before a Whipple procedure; acute normovolemic hemodilution, cell salvage, normothermia, topical hemostatic agents, and meticulous technique were used, and she was discharged with a hemoglobin of 10.3 g/dL. A 70-year-old kidney transplant recipient with tumor destruction of the L2–L3 vertebrae, who declined transfusion for personal reasons, underwent minimally invasive instrumented fusion with tranexamic acid, controlled hypotension, bipolar cautery, normothermia, and cell salvage, and left the hospital with a hemoglobin of 10.1 g/dL.

The toolkit built for bloodless care spans all phases of treatment and remains relevant [18][20]. Before surgery, it means detecting and treating anemia weeks in advance with oral or intravenous iron, with or without an ESA, estimating expected blood loss against total blood volume, and stopping drugs and supplements that promote bleeding. During surgery, it combines hemodilution, cell salvage, antifibrinolytics, controlled hypotension, normothermia, minimally invasive approaches, and topical hemostatics. After surgery, it centers on limiting phlebotomy: microtainer tubes hold about 0.5 mL, roughly 95% less than standard tubes [18].

Hematologic programs use the same principles. In the Cedars-Sinai transplant program, supportive measures included drawing laboratory samples every other day in pediatric tubes, intravenous or oral iron, folic acid, vitamin K, erythropoietin, aminocaproic acid when platelets fell below 10 × 10⁹/L, and hormonal suppression of menstruation in women [14]. In the Polish leukemia and lymphoma series, five of eight patients received ESAs [6].

These measures reduce blood loss and support marrow recovery for any patient. For a Jehovah’s Witness who now accepts some components, they can lower how often those components are needed.

Red cells beyond oncology: an illustration from sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) shows how targeted red cell therapy can be. Red cell transfusion remains central to its management, and the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) guideline addresses when to use simple transfusion versus red cell exchange, how to match red cell antigens to prevent alloimmunization, and how to screen for iron overload [21]. Exchange transfusion is preferred in several acute and chronic indications because it lowers the proportion of sickle hemoglobin without raising blood viscosity or adding iron load [21]. Advances in disease-modifying and curative therapy, covered previously in Onco’Zine, continue to reduce reliance on transfusion.

A lasting contribution to modern medicine

By declining transfusion while accepting other care, Jehovah’s Witnesses gave clinicians reason to test how far medicine could go without donor blood. Much of what was learned is now standard patient blood management, used for all patients [22].

  • A real-time experiment. Because declining transfusion was often the only way their care differed from that of other patients, Witness cohorts allowed comparisons that would otherwise be heavily confounded [21]. A narrative review by Philip Crispin, MD, a hematologist and active member of a multidisciplinary cancer care team at the Australian National University, examined 419 published papers on this population, most of them case reports and cohort studies [22].
  • Clarifying how much anemia is safe. Comparative studies of patients who did and did not accept transfusion helped define the limits of anemia tolerance. In surgical patients who declined transfusion, the relative risk of death rose about 2.5-fold for each 1 g/dL (10 g/L) fall in postoperative hemoglobin below 7 g/dL (70 g/L) [22]. Above that level, risk appeared low in most patients, consistent with the randomized trials that moved practice toward restrictive transfusion thresholds [22]. Case reports of patients who survived extreme anemia also show that careful supportive care can succeed even then [22].
  • Techniques that became routine. Programs built for Witness patients brought together preoperative optimization of hemoglobin and iron, acute normovolemic hemodilution, controlled hypotensive anesthesia, intraoperative cell salvage, antifibrinolytics, and meticulous surgical hemostasis [22]. Such programs reported fewer myocardial infarctions and reoperations for bleeding, and shorter intensive care and hospital stays [22].
  • From one community to every patient. Several institutions that published outcomes in Jehovah’s Witness patients went on to apply the same strategies to their wider surgical populations, and patient blood management (PBM) is now regarded as good practice and standard of care, supported by a 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) policy brief [22].  The policy brief highlights the global need to close the gap in awareness and implementation of a patient-centered PBM approach as an overall framework to address the risks of iron deficiency, anemia, blood loss, and coagulopathy.

Englewood Health in New Jersey is one example of this approach in practice [23]. Its Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery has treated tens of thousands of patients without transfusion over three decades, trains clinicians from other institutions, and has advised governments on blood management for disasters and other settings where donor blood is scarce [23].

A bridge between patients and clinicians

The Hospital Liaison Committees (HLCs) for Jehovah’s Witnesses can support both clinical teams and patients. Some 2,000 committees in more than 110 countries, staffed by trained volunteer ministers, offer free services on request, available around the clock [24]. They brief hospital teams and help arrange care plans tailored to each patient, provide clinicians with specialty-specific clinical strategies and information on managing anemia and avoiding transfusion, arrange presentations for hospital staff, and help locate experienced clinicians and facilities [24][25]. In this approach, the clinical team retains the medical assessment, and the patient retains the decision.

Individualized care for children and adolescents

Caring for children and adolescents with hematologic or oncologic disorders whose families identify as Jehovah’s Witnesses requires careful attention to clinical management, informed consent, family preferences, and, when necessary, ethical and legal considerations. Historically, clinicians have often approached these cases expecting that blood transfusion would be declined.

Recent guidance, however, underscores that individual decisions about blood products may vary and should not be assumed based solely on religious affiliation. [26] In an Atlanta cohort, 60% of guardians whose records indicated a no-transfusion preference voluntarily accepted blood products when prescribed for cancer care [25], and among 196 children at Johns Hopkins who requested bloodless care, 6.1% received an allogeneic component, and none required a court order [28].

For pediatric hematology-oncology teams, the September 2026 updated guideline from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses reinforces the importance of discussing transfusion preferences directly with each patient and family. Rather than assuming what a patient will or will not accept, clinicians should establish the family’s specific preferences before treatment begins whenever circumstances permit.

The September 2026 review by Weaver, Takemoto, and Johnson in Blood emphasizes the heterogeneity of decision-making among families identifying as Jehovah’s Witnesses. The authors describe clinical situations in which beliefs, individual conscience, the child’s developing autonomy, and the case’s medical circumstances may intersect. [26] Hence, a careful discussion should address the patient’s and family’s views regarding specific blood components, blood fractions, and procedures involving the patient’s own blood. Document preferences clearly in the medical record and revisit them when clinical circumstances change. For children and adolescents, these discussions also require consideration of age, maturity, the child’s participation in medical decision-making, and the responsibilities of parents or other legal decision-makers. When disagreement arises between family preferences and what the treating team considers necessary to protect the child’s health, consultation with institutional ethics, legal, and other appropriate specialists may be required. [26] A companion article in Onco’Zine covers these topics and will be available later this month.

Advance directives and the clinical conversation

The most immediate practical task is to revisit what patients have already signed. Any advance directive completed before September 18, 2026, was written under guidance that prohibited all four primary components [2]. It may record a refusal the patient would no longer make, or it may simply predate a choice the patient has not yet had the chance to consider.

In an Australian cohort of 63 Witness patients with solid tumors or lymphoma, all declined red cell transfusion, including 19 who reached a transfusion threshold, and patients tended to favor surgery and radiotherapy over chemotherapy [29]. Treatment choices, in other words, were shaped by blood policy as well as by disease.

A practical approach for oncology and hematology teams:

  • Ask every patient who identifies as a Jehovah’s Witness whether their wishes have changed since September 2026, and record the answer.
  • Review each component separately (red cells, platelets, plasma, white cells), along with fractions and the use of the patient’s own blood, since each is now an individual decision [2][10].
  • Revisit the question before high-risk phases of care, such as induction chemotherapy, transplant, or cellular therapy, when needs change quickly.
  • Update hospital documentation, blood bank alerts, and transfusion consent forms so that an old refusal does not override a new choice.
Relearning the conversation

For decades, the conversation with a Witness patient followed a familiar pattern. The patient presented a directive refusing transfusion, and the team planned care around that refusal. Many clinicians learned this approach early in training, and it served patients well under the old guidance.

That approach no longer fits. Each primary component is now a personal decision, so two Witness patients in neighboring beds may reasonably choose differently [2][10]. Clinicians who have spent years assuming a blanket refusal may need to unlearn that habit, just as earlier generations had to learn how to care for patients who declined blood.

The literature already lays the groundwork. Knowing the reasons behind a Witness patient’s position, and which alternatives that patient will accept, lets the care team honor the patient’s choices without compromising anemia management [30]. Medical ethics writers have long warned against treating Jehovah’s Witness patients as a single group with one set of views [31], and the clinical literature shows real variation from patient to patient, especially for products beyond whole blood and red cells [22]. The 2026 guidance makes that individual approach the norm, not the exception.

In practice, good communication now means:

  • No assumptions in either direction. Do not presume a patient will refuse every component, and do not presume the new guidance means they will accept them.
  • Open, specific questions. Ask what the patient has decided about each component, rather than whether they ‘accept blood.’
  • Time to decide. The organization encourages members to reflect, pray, and study before deciding, so offer time when the clinical situation allows [2].
  • Respect for the patient’s support network. If the patient wishes, a local Hospital Liaison Committee can help coordinate a care plan [24], and established bloodless medicine programs offer experienced teams for complex cases [23].
  • Consistency across the team. Ensure surgeons, anesthesiologists, oncologists, transfusion services, and nursing staff work from the same, current record of the patient’s wishes.
Responses and open questions

The two revisions have drawn a range of responses. Some observers have said the changes still leave members without an unrestricted choice, because the whole-blood prohibition remains [2][9]. However, for oncology, the September update addresses the gap that mattered most: the March change alone did little for emergencies or for children needing repeated transfusions during cancer treatment [9].

Several questions remain open for clinicians:

  • Data are still lacking on how many members will accept individual components. Earlier directive studies, in which no gynecologic oncology patient accepted any primary component, describe the old guidance, not the new one [11].
  • Language and reach. The September video and supporting materials were released in English first, with other languages to follow [10]. Awareness may vary by region and language for some time.
  • Outcomes research. The bloodless-care literature, from leukemia induction to transplant, was built on patients who declined all components [6][7][14]. Future studies will need to record which components each patient accepted.
Conclusion

The 2026 guidance moves decisions about a Jehovah’s Witness patient’s own blood and the four primary components from organizational prohibition to individual conscience, while keeping whole-blood transfusion outside current guidance. For hematology and oncology, it gives patients who choose these components access to guideline-based support during myelosuppressive therapy, transplantation, and surgery. The blood management methods developed in caring for Witness patients remain part of good care for everyone. Ask, inform, and document each patient individually.


Notes

* Generic arsenic trioxide injection is also available in the United States from several manufacturers, including Fresenius Kabi USA, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Pharmaceuticals, and Nexus Pharmaceuticals.

† Tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid) was developed by Roche and originally marketed as Vesanoid. Roche discontinued the US product in 2009; H2-Pharma currently distributes the Vesanoid brand in the United States, and generic tretinoin 10 mg capsules are also available. Marketing authorization holders outside the United States vary by country.

‡ Hyper-CVAD is an intensive, hyperfractionated regimen used in ALL and some aggressive lymphomas. Course A consists of hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and dexamethasone; course B consists of high-dose methotrexate and cytarabine (Ara-C). The two courses alternate, usually about every 21 days as blood counts allow, for a total of eight courses.

* CAR T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy in which a patient’s own T cells are collected from his own blood and genetically engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors that recognize a target on cancer cells. The modified cells are expanded in the laboratory and infused back into the patient after lymphodepleting chemotherapy. Because the process begins with collection of blood cells, and because the treatment can cause substantial and sometimes prolonged cytopenias, patients may need red cell or platelet transfusions during treatment. Blood-component availability and individual transfusion preferences are therefore clinically important.

Drugs mentioned in this article

Azacitidine [Vidaza®; Bristol Myers Squibb/BMS] [Prescribing Information]
Venetoclax [Venclexta®; AbbVie and Genentech] [Prescribing Information]
Arsenic trioxide [Trisenox®; Teva Pharmaceuticals; generics also available] [Prescribing Information]
Tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid) [Vesanoid®; H2-Pharma (US); generics also available] [Prescribing Information]
Dasatinib [Sprycel®; Bristol Myers Squibb/BMS] [Prescribing Information]
Cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, dexamethasone, methotrexate, cytarabine (Hyper-CVAD components) [generic; multiple manufacturers]
Epoetin alfa (Epogen®; Amgen) [Prescribing Information]
Epoetin alfa (Procrit®; Janssen) [Prescribing Information]
Darbepoetin alfa [Aranesp®; Amgen] [Prescribing Information]
Romiplostim [Nplate®; Amgen] [Prescribing Information]
Tranexamic acid (Cyklokapron®; Pfizer; generics also available) [Prescribing Information]
Aminocaproic acid [Amicar®; generics also available; multiple manufacturers] [Prescribing Information]
Intravenous iron, e.g., iron sucrose (Venofer®; American Regent) [Prescribing Information]
Ferric carboxymaltose [Injectafer®; American Regent] [Prescribing Information]
Folic acid; vitamin K (phytonadione) (generic; multiple manufacturers)[Prescribing Information]
Axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta®; Kite)[Prescribing Information]
Tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah®; Novartis)[Prescribing Information]

References

[1] Jehovah’s Witnesses to permit autologous blood transfusion. AABB News. March 24, 2026. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[2] Smith P. Jehovah’s Witnesses allow blood-derived products but keep ban on whole-blood transfusions. Associated Press. September 18, 2026. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[3] Carson JL, Stanworth SJ, Guyatt G, Valentine S, Dennis J, Bakhtary S, Cohn CS, Dubon A, Grossman BJ, Gupta GK, Hess AS, Jacobson JL, Kaplan LJ, Lin Y, Metcalf RA, Murphy CH, Pavenski K, Prochaska MT, Raval JS, Salazar E, Saifee NH, Tobian AAR, So-Osman C, Waters J, Wood EM, Zantek ND, Pagano MB. Red Blood Cell Transfusion: 2023 AABB International Guidelines. JAMA. 2023 Nov 21;330(19):1892-1902. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.12914. PMID: 37824153.<br.
[4] Metcalf RA, Nahirniak S, Guyatt G, Bathla A, White SK, Al-Riyami AZ, Jug RC, La Rocca U, Callum JL, Cohn CS, DeAnda A, DeSimone RA, Dubon A, Estcourt LJ, Filipescu DC, Fung MK, Goel R, Hess AS, Hume HA, Kaufman RM, Kranke P, Louw VJ, Møller MH, Murphy MF, Muszynski JA, O’Kelly CJ, Pagano MB, Patidar GK, Pavenski K, Poston JN, Saifee NH, Stolla M, Szczepiorkowski ZM, Tobian AAR, Uberoi R, Waters J, Williams B, Wood EM, Zantek ND, Zeller MP, Grossman BJ, Stanworth SJ. Platelet Transfusion: 2025 AABB and ICTMG International Clinical Practice Guidelines. JAMA. 2025 Aug 19;334(7):606-617. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.7529. PMID: 40440268.
[5] Page D, Sawler D, Brandwein J. Successful treatment of AML using non-intensive chemotherapy in Jehovah’s Witness patients. Leuk Res Rep. 2024 Aug 8;22:100477. doi: 10.1016/j.lrr.2024.100477. PMID: 39238534; PMCID: PMC11375247.
[6] Drozd-Sokołowska JE, Waszczuk-Gajda A, Dwilewicz-Trojaczek J, Walesiak A, Krzyżanowska M, Paluszewska M, Wieczorek J, Jędrzejczak WW. Outcomes of Jehovah’s Witnesses with hematological malignancies treated without transfusions – single center experience. Folia Med Cracov. 2020;60(4):53-64. PMID: 33821851.
[7] Zarka J, Al-Kali A, Alkhateeb HB, Matin A, Gangat N, Hogan WJ, Foran J, Murthy H, Yi CA, Prasad DK, Mina S, Litzow MR, Begna KH, Saliba AN. Patient-centered care strategies for Jehovah’s Witnesses with acute leukemia and high-grade myeloid neoplasms. Haematologica. 2026 Apr 1;111(4):1469-1473. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2025.288622. Epub 2025 Oct 30. PMID: 41163567; PMCID: PMC13040145.
[8] Jehovah’s Witnesses. 2026 Governing Body Update #2. JW.ORG. March 20, 2026. Online.  Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[9] Associated Press. Jehovah’s Witnesses ease policy on transfusions, allowing storage and use of one’s own blood. March 2026. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[10] Jehovah’s Witnesses. 2026 Governing Body Update #6. JW.ORG. September 18, 2026. See also: Products Derived From Whole Blood (chart). Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[11] Nagarsheth NP, Gupta N, Gupta A, Moshier E, Gretz H, Shander A. Responses of advanced directives by Jehovah’s Witnesses on a gynecologic oncology service. J Blood Med. 2014 Dec 24;6:17-23. doi: 10.2147/JBM.S70981. PMID: 25565911; PMCID: PMC4284050.
[12] Price TH, Boeckh M, Harrison RW, McCullough J, Ness PM, Strauss RG, Nichols WG, Hamza TH, Cushing MM, King KE, Young JA, Williams E, McFarland J, Holter Chakrabarty J, Sloan SR, Friedman D, Parekh S, Sachais BS, Kiss JE, Assmann SF. Efficacy of transfusion with granulocytes from G-CSF/dexamethasone-treated donors in neutropenic patients with infection. Blood. 2015 Oct 29;126(18):2153-61. doi: 10.1182/blood-2015-05-645986. Epub 2015 Sep 2. PMID: 26333778; PMCID: PMC4626256.
[13] El Chaer F, Ballen KK. Treatment of acute leukaemia in adult Jehovah’s Witnesses. Br J Haematol. 2020 Sep;190(5):696-707. doi: 10.1111/bjh.16284. Epub 2019 Nov 6. PMID: 31693175.
[14] Beck A, Lin R, Reza Rejali A, Rubens M, Paquette R, Vescio R, Merin N, Guerrero M, Federizo Y, Lua M, Uy L, Hernandez L, Allred M, Legaspi R, Leaverton M, Oliva S, Castillo R, Dean L, Bourke J, Cooper S, Gharapetian S, Causin J, Lopiccolo C, Ann Snoussi L, VanStrien P, Lill M, Linhares YP. Safety of bloodless autologous stem cell transplantation in Jehovah’s Witness patients. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2020 Jun;55(6):1059-1067. doi: 10.1038/s41409-019-0777-9. Epub 2020 Jan 2. PMID: 31898692; PMCID: PMC7269908.
[15] Riedell PA, Wu M, Collins JM, Gideon JM, Jakubowiak AJ, Kline JP, Kosuri S, Liu H, Smith SM, Bishop MR. Bloodless chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in Jehovah’s Witnesses. Leuk Lymphoma. 2021 Jun;62(6):1497-1501. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2021.1876868. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PMID: 33535838.
[16] Shamehdi CJ, Gordillo CA, Sawas A, Macedo R, Mapara MY, Reshef R. Life-Threatening Cytopenias in a Jehovah’s Witness Following CD19-Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy. EJHaem. 2025 Aug 13;6(4):e70119. doi: 10.1002/jha2.70119. PMID: 40809951; PMCID: PMC12345917.
[17] Xiao A, Nikolaenko L, Arslan S, et al. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) in Jehovah’s Witnesses: a case series. Transplant Cell Ther. 2025;31(2 Suppl):S248-S249. doi:10.1016/j.jtct.2025.01.378.
[18] Johns Hopkins Medicine. Bloodless medicine proves successful. February 2018. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[19] Frank SM, Wick EC, Dezern AE, Ness PM, Wasey JO, Pippa AC, Dackiw E, Resar LM. Risk-adjusted clinical outcomes in patients enrolled in a bloodless program. Transfusion. 2014 Oct;54(10 Pt 2):2668-77. doi: 10.1111/trf.12752. Epub 2014 Jun 18. PMID: 24942198; PMCID: PMC4234090.
[20] Resar LM, Frank SM. Bloodless medicine: what to do when you can’t transfuse. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2014 Dec 5;2014(1):553-8. doi: 10.1182/asheducation-2014.1.553. Epub 2014 Nov 18. PMID: 25696910.
[21] Chou ST, Alsawas M, Fasano RM, Field JJ, Hendrickson JE, Howard J, Kameka M, Kwiatkowski JL, Pirenne F, Shi PA, Stowell SR, Thein SL, Westhoff CM, Wong TE, Akl EA. American Society of Hematology 2020 guidelines for sickle cell disease: transfusion support. Blood Adv. 2020 Jan 28;4(2):327-355. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019001143. PMID: 31985807; PMCID: PMC6988392.
[22] Crispin P. The contribution of religious objectors to transfusion in understanding the impact of anaemia and patient blood management: a narrative review. Ann Blood. 2024;9:32. doi: 10.21037/aob-24-20. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[23] Englewood Health. Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[24] Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hospital Liaison Committees for Jehovah’s Witnesses. JW.ORG. Accessed October 1, 2026. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[25] Jehovah’s Witnesses. Evidence-based medical information for avoidance of blood transfusion. JW.ORG. Accessed October 1, 2026. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[26] Weaver MS, Takemoto C, Johnson LM. How I Treat Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Patients from Families Identifying as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Blood. 2026 Sep 4:blood.2026033728. doi: 10.1182/blood.2026033728. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42696604.
[27] Stevenson J, DeGroote NP, Keller F, Brock KE, Bergsagel DJ, Miller TP, Cornwell P, Fasano R, Chonat S, Castellino SM. Characteristics and outcomes of pediatric oncology patients at risk for guardians declining transfusion of blood components. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2023 Jan;6(1):e1665. doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1665. Epub 2022 Jul 6. PMID: 35792092; PMCID: PMC9875642.
[28] Lo BD, Pippa A, Sherd I, Scott AV, Thomas AJ, Hendricks EA, Ness PM, Chaturvedi S, Resar LMS, Frank SM. Clinical Outcomes, Blood Utilization, and Ethical Considerations for Pediatric Patients in a Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Program. Anesth Analg. 2024 Feb 1;138(2):465-474. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006776. Epub 2024 Jan 12. PMID: 38175737.
[29] Chang Lee R, Sukumaran S, Koczwara B, Woodman R, Kichenadasse G, Roy A, Vatandoust S, Karapetis C. Patterns of care in Jehovah’s Witnesses patients with solid tumours and lymphoma. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2019 Apr;2(2):e1148. doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1148. PMID: 32721085; PMCID: PMC7941485.
[30] Jean-Smith G, Gopalraj R. Jehovah’s Witnesses and bloodless medicine: what the care team needs to know. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2018 (meeting abstract). doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2017.12.028. Online. Last accessed on September 30, 2026
[31] Muramoto O. Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah’s Witnesses: Part 1. Should bioethical deliberation consider dissidents’ views? J Med Ethics. 1998 Aug;24(4):223-230. doi: 10.1136/jme.24.4.223. Erratum in: J Med Ethics. 1998 Dec;24(6):375. PMID: 9752623; PMCID: PMC1377670.

This article is intended for healthcare professionals. It does not replace clinical judgment, institutional policy, applicable law, or individualized informed consent.

Featured image: © 2026 CH OBC JONC Compassionate Cancer Care: A Conversation Between Patient and Clinician. Used with permission.


DOI

Your Support
Sign Up for Newsletter
Advertisement #5