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The Need to Adjust the Informed Consent for Jewish Patients for Treatments Involving Porcine Medical Constituents

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Abstract

In order to obtain full informed consent for medical treatments, it is imperative to provide patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds with all relevant information. Since the pig is considered an impure animal in Judaism, Jewish patients may wish to be informed of porcine-derived substances used in treating. The present study is the first to explore the level of knowledge of Jewish participants as to whether the medical use of pig is permitted by their religion, and the extent to which they believe it should be permitted. 714 Jewish participants completed a study questionnaire that included 15 medical uses of pigs. Findings indicated that the knowledge of Jewish law regarding these uses is a significant mediator in predicting the attitude toward the permissibility of these uses. I conclude with practical recommendations as to how to enhance cultural competence and improve the informed consent process when treating Jewish patients with porcine-derived constituents.

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The data can be obtained from the author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Funding

This work was supported by The Israel Academic College of Ramat Gan (Grant No. 2021-24484057).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, The Israel Academic College of Ramat Gan, 87 Ruttenberg St., 5227528, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Ya’arit Bokek-Cohen

  2. School of Nursing, The Academic College of Tel Aviv Jaffa, 10 Hever HaLe’umim St, 7475588, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ya’arit Bokek-Cohen

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  1. Ya’arit Bokek-Cohen
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N/A; YBC is the sole author.

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Correspondence to Ya’arit Bokek-Cohen.

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The manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under submission elsewhere. There is no conflict of interest.

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The study was approved by the IRB ethics committee of the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa.

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Bokek-Cohen, Y. The Need to Adjust the Informed Consent for Jewish Patients for Treatments Involving Porcine Medical Constituents. J Immigrant Minority Health 25, 142–150 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01383-z

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