From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 31, 2024
After spot check, Health Ministry orders closure of Tel Aviv fertility clinic facing criminal probe
Renee Ghert-Zand is the health reporter and a feature writer for The Times of Israel.
The Health Ministry orders today the immediate closure of the L.B. IVF clinic in Tel Aviv following an unannounced check by officials as part of an ongoing criminal investigation and legal proceedings for alleged fraud by medical staff.
The spot check was conducted after additional complaints were lodged against the clinic and the check uncovered serious problems posing an immediate danger to public health.
Allegations that an owner of the clinic knowingly imported from Georgia embryos affected by the serious genetic disease hemophilia were reported in mid-March. Some of the embryos had already been implanted in patients, with one woman giving birth to a baby with hemophilia and another suffering a stillbirth at 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The unannounced check revealed severe misconduct indicating that the clinic was operating in contravention of Israeli laws regarding assisted reproduction.
After initially withholding the identity of the owner of the L.B. IVF clinic accused of fraud, the Tel Aviv District Court named him on March 22 as Prof. David Bider.
