I feel like it’s almost irresponsible of CNN to publish this article.
A new study
finds that many Americans have that same kind of faith. In the study,
57 percent of randomly surveyed adults said God’s intervention could
save a deathly ill family member even if physicians said treatment
would be futile.However, just under 20 percent of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a helpless outcome.
The study was published last month in Archives of Surgery and is one of
many to show a "faith gap" between doctors and patients."Patients are scared to death to talk to their doctors about this
issue," said Dr. Harold Koenig, co-director of the Center for
Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University.Given this
gap, how can you discuss God with your physician? We asked advice from
Koenig and two other physicians who study faith and medicine.1. It’s OK to ask for a doctor who also has strong religious convictions
Koenig suggests this approach when talking to a physician: "I would
say: ‘My religious beliefs are very important to me and influence my
medical decisions and the way I cope with illness, and I want a doctor
who has those same convictions. If you don’t come from that
perspective, do you know a doctor you can refer me to?’ "If you’re a Christian, you might find a like-minded doctor through the ZIP code search at the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
It sure reads as if CNN is advocating that patients make medical decisions influenced by religious belief. First, isn’t that a contradiction in terms? That is, if a treatment (or nontreatment) decision is guided by religion, it is necessarily not a "medical decision." But second, here’s why I think this is irresponsible. Yes, people have a right to their religious beliefs, but a so-called "news" source shouldn’t be encouraging them to go to hospitals, only to discount science and medicine in favor of faith. "Are you a Christian? Here’s how you can get a Christian doctor!" "Are you Tom Cruise? Here’s how you can find a doctor who also won’t believe in or treat your psychiatric disorders!"
And on a slight tangent, why do 20 percent of "doctors and other medical workers" believe that God will intervene with miracles in medically hopeless cases? I hope that most of that 20 percent is comprised of janitors working in hospitals and telephone receptionists, and not the physicians who actually treat patients! And given that so many people do die and have horrible things happen to them, why are only some patients getting miracles? I wonder how these people answer that. "Well, if you pray really, really hard…"?
Accidental Blogger 
One response to “Jesus is my health care (Joe)”
CNN is irresponsible for focusing on this one theme of the survey. There’s much more to it, including an initial series of questions one of which reveals that half of the non-professional respondents would prefer their loved ones who have died at an accident to be transported to a hospital, rather than to a morgue or other appropriate facility. Huh? The two reasons evinced: something might yet be done for them, and hospitals are “more comfortable.”
There’s a lot going on here, and CNN misses most of it. For one thing, the study is aimed at determining “the values and preferences of the general public and trauma professionals regarding end-of-life care due to injury so as to inform practice guidelines” [my emphases]. The article characterizes the victims as “deathly ill family member[s].” The doctors surveyed were trauma professionals, not “your doctor.” With respect to religious beliefs, the survey concludes,
This comports with Dr. Fine’s sensible view, cited at the end of the article, that it’s important for doctors to understand the beliefs of their patients or the patients’ families. I don’t think it is a contradiction in terms to take account of religious beliefs when making a medical decision. I am a happy proponent of the placebo effect, arguably a proven faith-based variety of medication. But taking account of faith isn’t the same as relying wholly upon it. CNN confuses this obvious distinction.
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