Fielding found guilty

Paul Fielding, the British embryologist accused of assault, deception, false accounting and offences under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, was convicted last week following his trial at Southampton Crown Court.

Fielding, who worked as an embryologist at two clinics in Hampshire, was accused of pretending to thaw stored embryos and implant them into women undergoing IVF treatment. He was found guilty of eight counts of falsifying records at the clinics and, following an audit, to still be storing 39 embryos that he had pretended to implant. He was also convicted of three counts of assault because the women involved had not consented to the medical procedures he performed.

The judge, John Boggis QC, said that Fielding had betrayed the trust of his patients and told him 'your crimes are despicable and you face a custodial sentence'. The case has been adjourned until 15 January 2003 to allow the court time to assess psychiatric reports. In the meantime, Fielding was granted unconditional bail.

Following the conviction, Suzi Leather, the chair of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said that it had 'increased the thoroughness of inspections so as to minimise the risk of errors and to increase the chance that irregularities will be detected'. The Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE) issued a statement extending sympathy to the patients affected by the actions of Paul Fielding while stating that ACE believed the case to be an isolated incident, adding 'the vast majority of embryologists perform clinical duties to the highest standards and show a high level of professionalism and integrity in their work'.