Gynaecologist Albert Scerri, who was removed from the board regulating IVF because of his profession, is insisting he never had a conflict of interest as claimed by Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia.
“I, or any gynaecologist, for that matter, would only have a conflict of interest if we did IVF. But I never did IVF and I’m not interested in doing it,” Mr Scerri told Times of Malta.
I don’t accept that someone invents a conflict of interest to get rid of me
Dr Farrugia announced yesterday that he dissolved the entire Embryo Protection Authority set up by the previous government in January because he felt that one out of its five members had a conflict of interest.
Dr Farrugia said the law regulating the authority did not allow the appointment of board members who had “financial or other interest(s)”. This meant there could be no obstetricians or gynaecologists on the board because such professionals could be involved in the vetting of patients requesting IVF. As a result, he believed that the appointment of Mr Scerri – whom he did not mention by name – was in breach of the law.
“I have nothing against the person, who is very credible and competent and whom I know as a colleague. But I have to abide by the law,” Dr Farrugia said.
However, Mr Scerri, the brother of former Nationalist Party president Victor Scerri, begged to differ.
“If they want to replace me for political reasons, I don’t mind. If he wanted to replace me by somebody he trusts more, that’s fine also but I don’t accept that someone invents a conflict of interest to get rid of me,” he said.
He said the minister’s decision was based on “a false premise” and it was essential that the board included a gynaecologist, irrespective of who it was.
“On the Embryo Protection Authority you need to have a gynaecologist, somebody who knows the technicalities of the subject. Someone needs to know what IVF entails and guide and regulate centres doing IVF,” he insisted.
He referred to the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, “a referral IVF authority for the whole world”, that included a gynaecologist and an embryologist.
Mr Scerri also questioned why the minister removed all the members of the board who had already started processing requests and building contacts.
Dr Farrugia said: “If the previous board had done some work, it did so when it was not formed correctly. I dissolved the board not because I did not trust the members as such but because the law states there can be no conflict of interest.”
The first board was set up in January, soon after the Embryo Protection Act, or the IVF law, came into force.
The board was made up of Judge Albert Magri as chairman, Mr Scerri, paediatrician Valerie Said Conti, family therapist Clarissa Sammut Scerri and Daniela Cassar, a member of the Bioethics Consultative Committee.
The new board is chaired by Judge Philip Sciberras and consists of family therapist Simone Attard, paediatrician Patrick Sammut, psychotherapist Mariella Meachen and psychologist Pauline Baldacchino.
The role of the authority includes issuing certificates on eligibility of prospective parents and licences to clinics and ensuring that the law is observed and standards maintained.
The Nationalist Party accused Dr Farrugia of taking the law into his own hands by removing the whole board of the Embryo Protection Authority.
It pointed out that the board had only been appointed last January, adding that it was “absurd” to say that having a gynaecologist among its members amounted to aconflict of interest.
The PN noted it was a serious matter that a bioethics expert had not been appointed to the board.