Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Fertility Treatments May Change > ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Doctors are inadequately warning > women about the low success rates of many fertility > treatments and about potential health problems related > to multiple births, a panel of experts said Wednesday. > > The state's Task Force on Life and the Law said > fertility doctors have an obligation to minimize the > risk of impregnating a woman with three or more fetuses > because of the health problems, including retardation > and blindness, which can result from such pregnancies. > > The panel said ``fetus reduction'' -- abortion -- > should be considered by doctors and patients dealing > with multiple-fetus pregnancies to improve the chances > that the surviving fetuses will be healthier. > > The task force, made up of 24 medical, legal and ethics > experts, concluded that the information given to > patients at fertility clinics in New York state is > ``seriously deficient.'' > > The task force's recommendations do not carry any > force, but some of its recommendations -- on topics > such as life support and organ transplants -- have been > the basis for state laws and U.S. Supreme Court > decisions. > > It said assisted reproductive technologies are > typically accompanied by ``indignities, emotional > stresses, physical demands and financial burdens,'' > made all the worse because people experiencing > infertility are in a ``particularly vulnerable'' state > of mind. > > However the executive director of the American Society > for Reproductive Medicine, Dr. J. Benjamin Younger, > said his group disputes the ``paternalistic'' attitude > that infertility patients are ``uninformed.'' > > ``It is our experience that infertility patients are > some of the most educated patients seeking medical > treatment, and that most providers are appropriately > counseling their patients,'' Younger said. > > He added that his group cautions doctors against the > dangers of multiple births. > > Infertility affects 7.1 percent of married couples with > women of childbearing age, according to the task force. > That does not include 5.8 percent of married couples > who have trouble conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to > term. > > It recommended that the Legislature enact a host of > changes in state laws to cope with the medical and > ethical ramifications of new fertility technology, > including. > > The recommendations inlcude requiring physicians to > provide patients with statistics about how often women > using various fertility technologies become pregnant, > the price of the procedure and the risk. > > The head of the Society for Prevention of Infertility, > Dr. Masood Khatamee of Manhattan, said the task force > is right to demand more of doctors offering new > pregnancy technologies. > > ``People are selling their houses and rings and > furniture and getting involved in this high > technology,'' Khatamee said. ``There is a lot of > misinformation given to patients and the public is so > gullible. You have more than 300 fertility clinics and > one-third of them haven't had a successful birth.'' -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
