CGS-authored
The Los Angeles doctor who performed in vitro fertilization on a 33-year-old woman who gave birth to octuplets in January is widely described within the industry as an outlier who violated professional norms.
But data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 80 percent of U.S. fertility clinics in 2006, the most recent year with available statistics, didn't follow embryo implant guidelines established in 1999 by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The society steers treatment protocols at U.S. fertility clinics, and it advised implanting no more than two embryos in women younger than 35.
''Assisted reproduction is a multibillion-dollar business,'' said Marcy Darnovsky, of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland. ''Like other commercial enterprises, it needs rules.''
Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the society, countered that many of the clinics may have followed the guidelines, since exceptions are permitted.
Regarding whether it's likely that four out of five cases could merit exceeding the guidelines due to unusual challenges in conceiving, he said the society couldn't second-guess doctors' decisions.
''We don't like to assume,''...
But data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 80 percent of U.S. fertility clinics in 2006, the most recent year with available statistics, didn't follow embryo implant guidelines established in 1999 by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The society steers treatment protocols at U.S. fertility clinics, and it advised implanting no more than two embryos in women younger than 35.
''Assisted reproduction is a multibillion-dollar business,'' said Marcy Darnovsky, of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland. ''Like other commercial enterprises, it needs rules.''
Sean Tipton, a spokesman for the society, countered that many of the clinics may have followed the guidelines, since exceptions are permitted.
Regarding whether it's likely that four out of five cases could merit exceeding the guidelines due to unusual challenges in conceiving, he said the society couldn't second-guess doctors' decisions.
''We don't like to assume,''...