Recent headlines about two separate fertility clinics mixing up embryos have given everyone involved in assisted reproductive technology reason to pause.
NCCRM’s laboratory director, Dr. Hugh Hensleigh, wants all our patients to feel confident that he and his highly skilled staff of embryologists follow strict guidelines that stress best practices in ethics and patient care.
For years, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) have been working to help its members provide the best possible care for their patients. In addition to extensive educational and scientific activities, ASRM long ago established Practice and Ethics Committees to set standards, make recommendations and issue reports. Within the last few years, ASRM has changed its by-laws to allow the organization to take disciplinary action against members.
Clinics that wish to be members of SART must adhere to a rigorous set of standards. They are required to:
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Have an accredited laboratory. The lab accreditation program run by ASRM with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has explicit standards on the identification and documentation of all tissues involved.
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Adhere to all standards and recommendations of the ASRM Practice Committee.
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Adhere to all standards and recommendations of the ASRM Ethics Committee.
NCCRM consistently has been awarded lab accreditation from the College of American Pathologists. In addition, there is already extensive government regulation of assisted reproduction. By law, every IVF procedure and its outcome must be reported to the federal government. This is not true for any other medical procedure. And the FDA regulates all drugs, devices and tissues used in the course of infertility treatments.
