Israel considers nationalising IVF clinics following Assuta scandal

Israel's Health Ministry is considering nationalising the country's IVF clinics to avoid future bad practice, following its expert report which found that 'economic considerations' caused the Assuta embryo mix-up scandal.

The scandal emerged in September 2022 when the private Assuta Medical Centre in Rishon Lezion reported to the Health Ministry that, as revealed by genetic testing, one of their pregnant IVF patients in her third trimester was carrying a fetus that neither she nor her partner was related to (see BioNews 1160). The Health Ministry appointed an external expert committee, led by Professor Ami Fishman, deputy CEO of Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva and head of its department of quality and patient safety, to investigate the cause of the error.

The committee's report was highly critical of the private Assuta clinic, finding: 'unfortunately, economic considerations were preferred over basic principles of maintaining the quality and safety of treatment. This preference turned the medical institution into an assembly line, derailed the cart and caused suffering and pain, not only to the patients who are in the first circle of the event, but to the community of patients and caregivers in Assuta and in all the IVF units in Israel'.

It concluded that a 'heavy workload' put pressure on embryologists and staff to violate procedures and to skip necessary steps according to these procedures. The number of IVF treatment cycles carried out had sharply increased in recent years, without the required provisions being made to the working conditions for the workforce to meet this demand.

The reason behind the increase was a regulation introduced by the Health Ministry which diverted patients to private IVF treatment. The committee was also therefore highly critical of the Health Ministry itself, stating that 'there was no proper adjustment of the mechanisms required to ensure the quality and safety of the treatment, when the economic consideration overshadowed the medical considerations'.

It has since emerged that another child born through IVF, at an Assuta Medical Centre in Ramat HaHayal in 2018, may not be genetically linked to his father. Media reports emerged claiming the family were offered money by the clinic after reporting the discovery to the clinic. Assuta responded: 'There was no decision to not report to the Ministry of Health, and the lawyer's claims of hushing it up are unfounded and defamatory'.

Following the mix-up scandals, and a further incident at an Assuta Medical Centre facility in which 13 fertilised eggs dried up, the Health Ministry summoned senior Assuta officials for a hearing in May 2023.

As a result of these incidents, the Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's Health Ministry wants to transfer responsibility for all IVF treatment from private hospitals to public hospitals. The Ministry's director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov has now appointed a team to examine the IVF system and develop the required policy measures.