Medical Negligence Lawyer reveals Second IVF Clinic Mistake as Couple’s Embryos are Lost
25/04/2010
Medical Negligence Lawyer
A leading medical negligence lawyer has spoken out as it came to light that a couple's embryos had gone missing from the same IVF clinic that wrongly implanted a couple’s embryo into the wrong woman just last year.
Guy Forster, a medical negligence lawyer with specialist solicitors Irwin Mitchell, accused the IVF clinic in Wales of failing to learn lessons from previous mistakes. Last year the Cardiff based IVF clinic admitted that they had implanted the embryo of one couple into the wrong woman and now they have told another couple that they do not know the whereabouts of their embryos.
Mr. Forster represents both couples in their medical negligence cases against IVF Wales and openly criticized the treatment of both couples by the clinic and also the industry's regulator, the Human Embryo and Fertilization Authority (HFEA) for failing to take appropriate action or learn lessons from previous incidents.
Deborah and Paul, from Bridgend in South Wales, were the first couple to be represented by the medical negligence lawyer after they were told by IVF Wales that their last remaining embryo had been implanted into another patient. Following the revelations, the patient decided to take the morning after pill to prevent pregnancy. Liability was admitted by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board who paid out an undisclosed five figure sum in medical negligence compensation to the couple for gross failures in the care of their embryos in June 2009.
Mr. Forster has now spoken about his concerns over the latest error, in which two of a couple's embryos were missing, which occurred just seven months after the mix up with Deborah and Paul's embryo.
Guy is now representing the second couple, Clare and Gareth from Cardiff, in their medical negligence claim. The couple had been trying for a baby for more than seven years and were referred to the clinic for IVF treatment after two unsuccessful IUI (assisted insemination) procedures.
The first embryo transfer took place in July 2008 but sadly this was unsuccessful and so the couple chose to freeze three more viable embryos in order to undertake future IVF treatment.
In 2009 the couple decided that they wanted to go ahead and try the embryo transfer once again but on the day of the transfer Clare received a phone call asking her to come to the IVF Wales clinic as there were "a few problems in the laboratory with the embryos" and that everything would be explained once she came to the clinic.
The clinic told the couple that unfortunately they had found that only one embryo was present when they had defrosted them ready for the transfer and that the other two embryos were missing. Clare went ahead with the treatment with her one remaining embryo, as she had already been prepared for the transfer, but this was once again unsuccessful.
Following a lack of communication from the clinic as to the whereabouts of the two lost embryos, the couple have now taken legal action, instructing Mr. Forster to begin a medical negligence case against the Cardiff and Wales University Health Board.
The only explanation that the couple have received is from the embryologist who said that it was likely that the embryos went missing back in July 2008 when they were first frozen, but offered no further explanation as to where they went or how it happened.
Despite begin reported to the HFEA no official investigation was launched after the embryos went missing.
Mr. Forster said: "I am deeply concerned that the same clinic finds itself yet again at the centre of a serious incident. The second error involving Clare and Gareth's embryos appears to have occurred just seven months after the first serious incident relating to Paul and Deborah’s embryo. The incident followed two previous near miss incidents and concerns raised in inspections of the clinic.
"It seems that lessons have not been learned. Not only does this raise concerns about the clinic, but also serious questions need to be asked regarding the HFEA's ability to properly regulate the IVF industry.
"We represent a number of couples who have suffered similar problems with other clinics. The number of incidents reported to the HFEA is rising but it is difficult to know whether these couples' experiences represent just the tip of the iceberg, because the onus is on clinics to identify and report their own errors.
"These types of mistakes cause unimaginable heartache and anguish to couples longing for a baby. The public should have full confidence that any errors which occur are properly acted upon and, most importantly, that clinics learn from their mistakes."
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