Prague, Jan 3 (CTK) – Embryos of two women have been mixed up during artificial insemination at a Czech asssisted reproduction clinic, Lucie Prinesdomova, spokeswoman for the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL), confirmed to CTK yesterday.
SUKL learnt of the mistake in mid-December and it launched a check at the clinic to find out whether more mistakes had not occurred, she said.
“The swap has been confirmed. As far as we know, the mistake was caused by a particular person, not by a failure of the system,” Prinesdomova said.
However, the clinic’s check has not yet been completed, she added.
This seems to be the first case of this kind reported in the Czech Republic.
Critics of assisted reproduction say this medical field has turned into a lucrative business in the country. According to some estimates, up to four billion crowns a year are spent in assisted reproduction, including hundreds of millions of crowns covered from the compulsory health insurance.
More than 5,000 babies are annually born thanks to assisted reproduction in the Czech Republic. Over 100,000 Czech children have been born in this way so far.
($1=25.819 crowns)
kva/dr
