This lesson explores the issue of religion and medical ethics and how access to and the creation of new medical treatments and technology can result when religious beliefs and medical practices contradict one another. For most people, religious beliefs are not usually a matter of life and death or a path to medical invention. However, for Jehovah's Witnesses, following the tenets of their religion sometimes does become a life-and-death situation that places patients at odds with their doctors or, in some cases, results in the development of new medical techniques that help physicians successfully treat patients.