Doctor Horror
Hi there,
I can bumble along in Spanish, French and
German. But that means that bioethics news in other languages flies beneath the
radar. Fortunately I did stumble across the bizarre case of Roger Abdelmassih,
Brazil’s first and best IVF doctor. This luminary is now hiding in Lebanon
after having been convicted of raping 39 patients. In Brazil, the media has dubbed him “Doutor horror”, Doctor Horror.
But now, to the horror of his 8,000 patients,
it appears that his extraordinary success rate may have been achieved by
substituting sperm or eggs from other patients. Did he use his own sperm? It
wouldn’t be the first time.
Come to think of it, how do patients know
that this skulduggery is not happening all the time in IVF clinics, especially
in countries without strict safeguards and a tradition of high professional
standards? They don’t. They just have to trust their doctor. I admit that I
don’t know much about the field, but I suspect that assisted reproduction is
one area where paternalism lingers on.
If you are a reader in a non-English-speaking
country, please alert me to developments so that I can share them with other
BioEdge subscribers.
Cheers,
Michael Cook
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Could newborns solve the kidney shortage crisis?
Kidneys from newborn babies could be a “game-changing” solution to organ shortage crisis, according to an American study. According to...
Chinese sperm bank pushes the boundaries in its marketing
With a birth rate of 1.09 and a declining population, there is a sense of urgency in China about reversing...
Chinese scientists grow humanized kidneys in pigs
Chinese scientists have successfully created chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig...
People born from donor gametes in UK will be able to doorknock their dad
As of October 1, 18-year-olds in the United Kingdom conceived with donor gametes will be able to find out who...
British teen dies after doctors refuse her request for experimental treatment
ST, the 19-year-old woman at the centre of a dispute about mental competence and healthcare in Britain, has died of...
Dodging a bullet: how a report recommending ‘chestfeeding’ and inclusive pronouns almost became the norm in British maternity wards
A transgender maternity report commissioned by public health authorities in the UK last year made headlines by recommending the use...