Clinic apologises to affected clients and says it has set up an internal task force to conduct a review to improve procedures
Hong Kong’s regulator for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has ordered a fertility clinic to partially halt operations after it mishandled embryo biopsy specimens from two patients and failed to report the incident to health authorities.
The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Tuesday that it had suspended most operations at HEAL Fertility in Central after discovering that embryo biopsy specimens the clinic sent for pre-implantation genetic testing belonged to the wrong parents.
The clinic apologised to the affected clients on Tuesday night, adding that it had set up an internal task force to conduct a review to improve procedures.
Council chairman Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen said a police report had been filed through the Department of Health after a genetic testing laboratory run by the Chinese University of Hong Kong at Prince of Wales Hospital found that embryo biopsy specimens from two women it had received did not belong to them.
Only one of seven specimens from the first woman was hers, while neither of the two specimens said to belong to the second woman was hers.
Liang said the tests were conducted in May and the council was notified about the incident on June 17. The council set up a task force the following day to investigate.
Sentinel — Human
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