Health Shadow Minister Claudette Buttigieg has called on the government to confirm or deny whether monetary compensation had been offered to couples whose IVF process had failed following a power outage at Mater Dei Hospital’s IVF incubator last month.
Speaking during the adjournment on Tuesday, Dr Buttigieg said it seemed there were people who thought that everything could be bought at a price.
“Because there were people who failed their duty to protect embryos, parents of the would-be babies were being offered compensation. What value was being given to life when compensation was being offered for such a failure,” she asked.
On January 27, the Health Ministry had said in a statement that possible “technical damage” had been reported at Mater Dei Hospital’s IVF incubator but all embryos appeared to have remained viable.
It announced that an independent inquiry had been appointed after Health Minister Chris Fearne was informed of the temporary damage in the incubator, which was carrying embryos in the process of being planted in women as part of the IVF process.
At the time, the ministry had said that after all couples involved were informed and the IVF process continued on the advice of medical experts.
However, Dr Buttigieg said eight couples had informed her that their process had failed.
She also criticised the fact that not all couples were informed of the possible damage in the same manner.
She claimed some couples were told that there existed a possibility that some embryos would not attach and were asked whether they would accept them. “This was shocking,” she said, asking “how could these couples have not accepted their own children?” She said this was stooping as low as one could get without heeding what was just, moral and ethical.
She asked how could anyone trust the government to freeze embryos when such a horrifying incident had led to the loss of 20 embryos, 20 lives and called on the government to expedite its inquiry into the case and publish the findings.
Last Monday, Mr Fearne told Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis that 202 IVF cycles were performed at Mater Dei Hospital in 2016. He announced that between January 2015 and April 2016, 52 IVF babies were born. Through the processes made between June and December last year, another 24 couples were expecting 28 babies.