Fertility company CEO resigns following second embryo mix-up

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The CEO of Monash IVF has resigned after a second bungle was made public. The fertility giant this week apologised for incorrectly transferring the wrong embryo to a patient.

Transcript

00:00What we know about the resignation is Michael Knapp was the CEO of Monash IVF and the board

00:07has said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that they have accepted his

00:11resignation and that they wish him well and respect his decision.

00:15So in that statement they've said that he has led the organisation through a time of

00:19great growth and transformation.

00:22Before he was the Chief Executive he was the Managing Director so he has been with the

00:26organisation for some time taking on that role, taking on the Chief Executive role in 2019.

00:32Now of course this resignation has come just days after a second IVF bungle at Monash IVF.

00:38Monash IVF is in hot water over this because it is just the second incident in just as many

00:43months.

00:44So two incidents in two months that has really couples who are undergoing IVF at the moment

00:48very, very concerned.

00:50So that first incident that we discovered back in February was a case where a Brisbane woman

00:55essentially gave birth to a stranger's baby because it was an incorrect implantings of

01:00an embryo that resulted in that birth and that was back in 2023 we understand.

01:06So a lot of concern from couples who are currently going through IVF and not just concerns being

01:12raised just about Monash IVF at the moment as it does appear that IVF regulation will be

01:17a topic to be discussed by state health ministers and the federal health minister this week.

01:22I spoke to a couple the other day who were going through IVF at Monash and didn't want

01:27to be named or speak publicly because they're worried that if they speak publicly about those

01:32concerns that it could affect their success or could affect their treatment by staff at

01:38Monash IVF.

01:39But they did tell me on background that they were very concerned about some of the I suppose

01:45how staff treated the process and the processes there at Monash IVF and they said they had

01:50to really pay attention to what was happening and they were quite worried.

01:54So we have heard that there are calls for national regulation and what IVF campaigners are saying

02:01is that there is a need for federal law or an independent auditor to go to clinics to make sure

02:06that the right checks and balances are being followed.

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