Pill ingredients a religious dilemma for some

[Amelia]

Pill ingredients a religious dilemma for some

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Sioux City Journal

OMAHA (AP) -- Dr. S. Pirzada Sattar's grandmother would rather die than take medicine that contains pork.

The devout Muslim believes it's more important to follow her religious beliefs, which include not eating pork, than take medicine that could save her life, Sattar said.

Sattar, who is also a Muslim, said he would take the pill. But, he said, patients' religious beliefs should not be ignored by doctors when treatment is concerned.

"Some people are OK with that because they believe their religious beliefs are more important," said Sattar, who works in the psychiatry department at the Creighton University Medical Center and at Omaha's veterans hospital. "I think as our profession has evolved, it is our responsibility to respect that."

Sattar was among those gathered at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha on Friday to discuss problems some people of faith confront when they need medicine.

Tissues from pigs, cows, primates and even humans are among those used in some medications and vaccines. Some religions decry eating some or all animals.

Sattar said some patients decided not to take their medications because they contained parts of animals that are not allowed for consumption.

"It's not my decision to make," Sattar said. "We can give but the patient is not necessarily going to take."

Dr. Michael Makoid with Creighton's School of Pharmacy said some patients don't realize their religions make some exceptions to dietary rules when it comes to medicine.

When a medicine that may contain pork is needed to save a life, Rabbi Jonathan Gross said, he tells people to take the medicine.

In that case, Jews are dealing with a conflict of two religious laws, Gross said. One that bars them from eating the meat and one that bans murder.

By not taking needed medications, Gross said, they are contributing to their own deaths.

"For any life-threatening thing," Gross said, "it's prohibited not to take medication."

In the same situation, Muslims should take the medicine, said Tehmina Zeb of the Islamic Speaker's Bureau of Nebraska.

Taking the medicine is the lesser of the two evils, Zeb said.

"A life is the most important thing," Zeb said.

For Hindus, taking the medicine is a decision that should be made between the individual and God, said Dr. Sanjay Singh, director of The Nebraska Epilepsy Center and a member of Omaha's Hindu Temple.

While many Hindus practice vegetarianism, there are exceptions for medication, Singh said.

"It is very individual in that perspective," he said.

Some Christian faiths also have dietary restrictions, Sattar said.

He spoke of a Seventh-day Adventist patient suffering from paranoia and agitation who stopped using medicine made from animal tissue. After his symptoms returned, he was placed on an alternative medication.

Sometimes there are medications that are made without using the offending animals, Sattar said, but they are often more expensive.

Doctors best serve their patients by being honest about what is in medications and other choices, Sattar said.

"It is our responsibility to find that for the patients," he said.

[Ron Lambert]

The original polio vaccine was cultured in monkeys. Most people were not troubled by this, even if they cared about the distinction between clean and unclean animals. They thought modern medicine must be safe. Then years later it was discovered that some batches of vaccine may have become contaminated with viral diseases carried by monkeys, including Simian Virus 40, or SV40, which can produce various fatal kinds of cancer involving the brain, bones, and lungs. Note the following article excerpts:

Quote:

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Polio Vaccine Might Have Carried Virus

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Mark Benjamin, Investigations Editor, Washington Times, 09/21/2003

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Some of the polio vaccine given to millions of American children from 1962 until 2000 could have been contaminated with a monkey virus that shows up in some cancers, according to documents and testimony to be delivered to a House committee Wednesday. The vaccine manufacturer said such claims "don't have any validity," and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees.

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Some batches of the first polio vaccine used from 1955 until 1962 were contaminated with the monkey virus. The virus has also been found in some cancer in humans, although it has not been determined that the virus caused the cancer. Between 10 and 30 million Americans may have received a contaminated dose of that vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The monkey virus is suspected of causing cancer in laboratory animals, including brain cancers, bone tumors and a usually fatal cancer in the membranes around the lungs called mesothelioma.

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Documents set to be delivered to the House Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness appear to show that the original "seeds" used to produce the Sabin vaccine could have been tainted with SV40; that the company that manufactured the vaccine, Wyeth Lederle, may have used Rhesus monkeys -- which are more likely to carry the disease -- rather than the African Green monkeys it says it used, according to company documents; and that the company may not have performed all of the screening tests required.

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Stanley P. Kops, an attorney who represents clients he says were "paralyzed, killed and-or severely damaged" by the vaccine used until 2000, will present the documents. Kops alleges in his written testimony that the manufacturer and the FDA were negligent and failed to protect children.

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The whole article may be read at: http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/diffdx/polio4.html

[cricket]

Just to throw another couple of logs onto the fire:

Suppose...

• One is stranded on a desert island. There is hope that someone will come to rescue him within the next month, but he's already been out of food for 40 days. A pig happens to also be stranded with him. Dilemma?

• A gun is being held to a man's head. He must eat the pork placed before him or be shot. Dilemma?