Clinical Negligence Lawyer Demands End To Clinic’s ‘Lackadaisical Approach’ To Standards Following Latest IVF Clinic Blunder
22/11/2011
A young couple whose lives were 'turned upside down' when an IVF clinic allowed the destruction of an entire batch of eggs donated by a family member, have spoken out about their horrific ordeal in a bid to get regulators to notice and take action.
The blunder at the Cardiff based IVF Wales clinic, where there has been a number of critical errors in recent years, occurred when a lab worker knocked a pipette containing all ten of their donated eggs.
The distressed couple, named only as Lorraine and Chris, from Barry in South Wales, who had been trying for a baby for seven years, are not the only patients affected like this. A number of couples have been given the shocking news that their donated sperm and eggs were destroyed and lost for ever by mistake at the clinic earlier this year.
Their lawyer, IVF expert Guy Forster from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, confirmed that the couple, who are still desperately trying to having a baby using IVF, have now embarked on legal proceedings in a bid to get the answers they desperately need to comprehend what went wrong and try to move on with their lives.
Mr Forster proceeded to say that the couple hoped in speaking out, regulators would recognise the severity of the issue and act to prevent others suffering as a result of the clinic’s blunders.
Forster commented: “IVF is a long, emotionally draining and physically painful process and my clients pinned their hopes on it. The knowledge that they went through all that, but then so little care has been taken with their eggs, is incredibly distressing.
“Although we are in the early stages of investigating just what went wrong, we understand that simple safeguards were not in place to prevent such a basic accident from occurring. It appears insufficient care was taken during the transfer of eggs to a dish and during that process the pipette holding all the eggs was knocked against the microscope. The clinic appears to accept that only a proportion of the eggs should have been transferred in one go to ensure that in the event of an accident not all eggs are lost.
“These precious eggs, which had been donated by Lorraine’s sister, having undergone weeks of hormone therapy and invasive procedures, were destroyed in a split second. Whilst human error cannot be eradicated, proper care and adequate safeguards could have stopped this most rudimentary blunder from happening.
“It is therefore vital that a thorough investigation now takes place and that the clinic ensures that lessons are finally learnt to safeguard future patient welfare.”
The troubled clinic first hit the headlines in 2009 when Irwin Mitchell secured a five-figure settlement against the trust on behalf of another couple whose last viable embryo was transferred to the wrong patient.
An investigation by official regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), published in the Mail on Sunday, revealed that the regulator was ‘extremely concerned’ by the reporting of new errors at the clinic this year.
The report pointed to a serious incident in March, in which samples from people suffering from cancer were accidentally destroyed. There was another case only weeks later in which sperm samples were used in fertility treatment before they had been through the screening process for diseases such as HIV. As a result the HFEA has imposed conditions on the clinics’ licence to limit the number of cycles it can carry out per week.
Care worker Lorraine, 33, whose eggs were lost by the clinic, said: “When I heard what had happened I felt numb and went into shock. By that point we had been trying for a baby for seven years and IVF was our last hope.
“My sister had been so kind and altruistic donating her eggs to us, taking four weeks out of her life to receive medication and undergo a painful procedure and I felt awful having to tell her it had all been for nothing.”
Chris and Lorraine were married in 2000 and immediately tried to start a family. Four years later, she still wasn’t pregnant, so visited her GP. The couple were then sent to the IVF Wales clinic based at the University of Wales Hospital at the Heath Hospital in Cardiff, where it was discovered that Chris’s sperm had ‘low motility’.
In 2007, the couple went through a cycle of IVF, but Lorraine produced just two eggs. Of these, one showed low fertility and the other failed to fertilise, so the consultant suggested using a donor egg from a family member.
Her sister agreed to help, coming to stay with the couple in Barry while she underwent treatment to extract her eggs at IVF Wales. On the last day of treatment, the couple were thrilled to be told that ten eggs described by consultants as ‘of exceptional quality’ had been produced.
The trio went home to rest, but later that evening, IVF Wales telephoned Chris to tell him that there had been a “mechanical error” and all the eggs had been accidentally destroyed. Shaky and tearful, the couple phoned IVF Wales to confirm that it was true and were called to a meeting at the clinic that same evening, where the terrible news was confirmed.
Guy Forster, has acted for a number of couples who have encountered problems with their treatment at IVF Wales and has repeatedly raised concerns regarding the state of affairs at the Unit.
He said: "Sadly, these latest findings further suggest that little action is being taken to ensure lessons are being learnt from these devastating and wholly avoidable errors. It is extraordinary that a clinic can have such a lackadaisical approach to quality and risk management but it is perhaps even more concerning that this has been allowed to carry on despite numerous serious incidents.
“Although the clinic must take its share of the blame for the catalogue of errors in recent years, I am greatly concerned that the HFEA – which as the official regulator exists both to police the industry and ensure best practice – appears to have been largely ineffective in reducing rudimentary errors and improving standards at this particular clinic.”
Figures released by the HFEA, following a Freedom of Information request in August this year, by Irwin Mitchell solicitors, revealed that the number of IVF incidents across the UK has risen year on year with 564 incidents reported from April 2010 to March 2011.
Forster added: “Following the Government’s announcement that it intends to abolish quangos such as the HFEA, it is intended that ultimately much of the responsibility for regulating the fertility sector will pass to the Care Quality Commission. When the time comes, we hope the CQC will take the initiative to improve the way in which the HFEA has been regulating the sector.
"For the families affected by these latest, horrific incidents and the couples I represent it is too late, but it is now absolutely imperative that with the little time it has left as regulator, the HFEA seizes the opportunity by taking immediate action to prevent others suffering as they have."
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