Mother Sues Over False Negative Cystic Fibrosis Test
A Scottish woman is suing Lothian Health Board for medical negligence after a cystic fibrosis (CF) test performed on her while pregnant produced a false negative result. The 41 year old woman from Edinburgh provided a mouthwash sample during her pregnancy in 1994, which tested negative for mutations in her CF gene. However, after her son was born in 1995, it was found that he had inherited the condition from her. Though the test was reported as negative, the claimant alleges that it was actua...
Comment
If the same standards were applied to IVF centres as cardiac surgery, then one in five IVF centres in UK would be closed immediately'. True or False?
by Professor Gedis Grudzinskas
Having been Medical Director and Person Responsible of at least two of the largest UK IVF centres in both public and private sectors for twenty years, but now in independent practice, one may experience a very different perspective of quality care in IVF centres. This perspective is arrived at quickly and is inevitable, probably for the reasons listed below. One might argue that IVF does not affect patients' lives in the same way as cardiac surgery does. This is perhaps true. However, given t...
Banking crisis - what should be done about the sperm donor shortage?
by Dr Antony Starza-Allen
An acute shortage of donor sperm is diminishing the capacity of the UK's public and private health sectors to treat infertility, resulting in growing concern and lengthening waiting lists at clinics. The shortage is widely attributed to the removal, in 2005, of entitlement to donor anonymity. The Progress Educational Trust, with support from the Royal Society of Medicine and the British Fertility Society (BFS) staged a panel discussion on Thursday 25 June 2009 entitled 'Banking Crisis - what ...