{"id":3473,"date":"2019-02-17T11:21:27","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T10:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=3473"},"modified":"2019-02-17T11:31:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T10:31:43","slug":"ivf-add-ons-and-ethics-where-does-one-draw-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2019\/02\/17\/ivf-add-ons-and-ethics-where-does-one-draw-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"IVF add-ons and ethics \u2013 where does one draw the line?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Mila Zemyarska.<\/p>\n

During the last decade, there has been a boom of new adjunct techniques and interventions, also called IVF add-ons, developed in an attempt to boost IVF success rates. However, these have been introduced to the market and to clinical practice before their efficacy and safety could be properly assessed.<\/p>\n

Hence, while these add-ons might add up, it is equally possible that at present patients pay large sums for interventions that are placebo at best or life-threatening at worst.<\/p>\n

This practice was recently investigated by BBC One’s Panorama,<\/a>\u00a0which portrayed fertility treatment adjuncts as a business gimmick with little to no application in the clinic.<\/p>\n

However, in my paper<\/a>, I argue that providing IVF add-ons can still be ethical in specific circumstances: if true informed consent can be given, there is a potential of benefit and the risk of harm is minimal.<\/p>\n

This finding is important, as it helps draw a line between right \u2013 allowing patients to make their own choices \u2013 and wrong \u2013 not protecting their health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, this much needed insight can help moderate the current situation, so both specialists who deny all add-on requests and those who offer adjunct interventions indiscriminately can head towards a more balanced approach to IVF add-ons together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paper title<\/strong>: Is it ethical to provide IVF add ons when there is no evidence of a benefit if the patient requests it?<\/a><\/p>\n

Author(s)<\/strong>: Mila Zemyarska<\/p>\n

Affiliations<\/strong>: Nuffield Department of Women\u2019s and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom<\/p>\n

Competing interests<\/strong>: None.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Mila Zemyarska. During the last decade, there has been a boom of new adjunct techniques and interventions, also called IVF add-ons, developed in an attempt to boost IVF success rates. However, these have been introduced to the market and to clinical practice before their efficacy and safety could be properly assessed. Hence, while these add-ons […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":354,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reproduction"],"yoast_head":"\nIVF add-ons and ethics \u2013 where does one draw the line? - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2019\/02\/17\/ivf-add-ons-and-ethics-where-does-one-draw-the-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IVF add-ons and ethics \u2013 where does one draw the line? - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By\u00a0Mila Zemyarska. During the last decade, there has been a boom of new adjunct techniques and interventions, also called IVF add-ons, developed in an attempt to boost IVF success rates. However, these have been introduced to the market and to clinical practice before their efficacy and safety could be properly assessed. 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