Inside the opaque world of IVF, where errors are rarely made public (28 April 2024)

Summary

This Washington Post article looks at the lack of error and accident reporting in the US reproductive health and fertility industry. Unlike any other area of healthcare, no outside authority or agency regulates Never Events that happen at fertility providers. The authors highlight a case that allowed a glimpse into the industry, when legal action was taken against a San Francisco fertility centre where a storage tank imploded, damaging or destroying 4,000 human eggs and embryos. A jury later found that a manufacturing defect was largely to blame for the disaster but also implicated the actions taken by staff at the centre. The authors also highlight that patients are often asked to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of a legal settlement, which further restricts transparency when something goes wrong.