'Several lapses' at Thomson Fertility Centre
05:55 AM Nov 24, 2010
SINGAPORE - In addition to handling two assisted-reproduction processes specimens at a single time, other lapses at the Thomson Fertility Centre included using the same lab instrument, a pipette, twice and not having a second person to counter-check at every critical step of the procedure.
These findings were released by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament yesterday after investigations were launched into Thomson Medical Centre whose fertility centre used the wrong sperm for a couple undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Mr Khaw said, at the time of the incident, the embryologist had been processing semen specimens from two individuals at the same time. The pipette used for transferring specimens was reused twice instead of being discarded after a single use as is the recommended practice, thus "unnecessarily raising the risk of human error".
The centre also did not have another person to check that the specimens were transferred correctly at every critical stage, as is the recommended procedure.
"These lapses in procedure contributed to the occurrence of a human error and both led to the IVF mix-up in this case," said Mr Khaw.
In response to Member of Parliament Lam Pin Min's query on the other nine IVF centres, Mr Khaw said two private centres were found to be in non-compliance of some procedures but have since fully corrected these.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement yesterday said that the two centres had lapsed in not having a second person to counter-check during the IVF procedure.
Operations at Thomson Fertility Centre have since been suspended by MOH. Ng Jing Yng
These findings were released by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan in Parliament yesterday after investigations were launched into Thomson Medical Centre whose fertility centre used the wrong sperm for a couple undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Mr Khaw said, at the time of the incident, the embryologist had been processing semen specimens from two individuals at the same time. The pipette used for transferring specimens was reused twice instead of being discarded after a single use as is the recommended practice, thus "unnecessarily raising the risk of human error".
The centre also did not have another person to check that the specimens were transferred correctly at every critical stage, as is the recommended procedure.
"These lapses in procedure contributed to the occurrence of a human error and both led to the IVF mix-up in this case," said Mr Khaw.
In response to Member of Parliament Lam Pin Min's query on the other nine IVF centres, Mr Khaw said two private centres were found to be in non-compliance of some procedures but have since fully corrected these.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement yesterday said that the two centres had lapsed in not having a second person to counter-check during the IVF procedure.
Operations at Thomson Fertility Centre have since been suspended by MOH. Ng Jing Yng