Regulator’s search of IVF clinic was illegal, says high court
(sz) IVF doctors last night called for resignations and a full investigation by the Department of Health after the high court ruled that the fertility regulator had unlawfully obtained warrants to search a clinic on the eve of a Panorama documentary. The British Fertility Society, representing the doctors, said the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority had lost the trust of the clinics it regulates following the high court victory of Mohamed Taranissi, the controversial IVF doctor who has the best success rates in the country.
HFEA officials, accompanied by police, searched one of Mr Taranissi’s clinics in January on the eve of the BBC programme. The HFEA has had a year-long argument with Mr Taranissi about the licensing of his two London clinics. But the court ruled that the information its chief executive, Angela McNab, gave to magistrates to obtain the warrant was inadequate. The HFEA will pay an estimated £1.3m in costs.
Professor Robert Winston, of Imperial College, said: “[This is] further evidence of the complete incompetence of the HFEA and the need for the workings of this organisation to be radically reviewed. This situation will do nothing at all to protect the interests of vulnerable patients. With the loss of this amount of public money, the chief executive and previous chair will presumably need to consider their positions.” more…
From: »The Guardian«