Writing in The Times, Rosie Taylor, a journalist specialising in health and consumer affairs, has highlighted how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has called for fines to be issued to fertility clinics that mis-sell treatments to prospective parents in order to prevent patients being exploited.
Julia Chain, chair of the HFEA, spoke at PET's annual conference last week. PET (the Progress Educational Trust) is the charity that publishes BioNews.
'Patients are now really consumers, given that more than two thirds of fertility treatment is provided within the private sector, and therefore they are vulnerable in some instances to mis-selling – treatment add-ons is a really good example', she said.
Treatment add-ons are non-essential treatments that may be offered in addition to proven fertility treatment.
Chain's speech can be read in full here.
