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August 22, 2024 – 07:45
Sydney (Australia), Aug 22 (EFE).- Australian in vitro fertilization company Monash IVF has agreed to pay 56 million Australian dollars (37.68 million dollars or 33.81 million euros) to some 700 former patients after admitting to having destroyed suitable embryos in a genetic screening program, prosecutors said Thursday.
The payment, which is pending approval by the Supreme Court of Victoria, is part of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2023 by the law firm Margalit Injury Lawyers, which represents the plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, Monash IVF, as well as Repromed and Compass Fertility, performed non-invasive genetic testing on the plaintiffs’ embryos, which allegedly resulted in them being incorrectly classified as abnormal, according to a statement released today by Margalit Injury Lawyers.
The trial also revealed other scandals, including deliberate manipulation of one of the clinical trials, forgery of patients’ signatures on consent forms and the destruction of incriminating evidence of illegal experiments on patients’ embryos, the statement said.
The class action lawsuit also alleged that 35 percent of the embryos deemed abnormal by the flawed noninvasive test and destroyed were actually normal and could have resulted in a viable pregnancy.
“Tragically, many patients had their embryos wrongly classified as abnormal and unsuitable for transfer as a result of these flawed Monash IVF tests and lost the opportunity to have children,” said Michel Margalit, senior director of the legal practice in the statement.
Commenting on the settlement, Danielle Bopping, who led the class action, said she hopes to achieve “justice for the women and families whose lives have been irrevocably changed by the company’s (Monash IVF) business practices,” according to the statement from Margalit Injury Lawyers.
Bopping also hopes to shed light on the fact that in vitro fertilisation in Australia has become “a multi-million dollar industry that does not always put the interests of its patients first”, as well as the lack of regulation of technical work within laboratories in these places.
Following the announcement of the settlement, shares in Monash IVP, which maintains its innocence and claims the deal was reached to avoid legal proceedings, fell 11% on the Australian ASX stock exchange this morning.
The in vitro fertilization industry in Australia, dominated by Virtus Health, Monash IVF and Genea, will generate some 515 million dollars (462 million euros) in 2024 in the Oceanic country, according to data from the market analysis consultancy IBIS World. EFE
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