Video: Drama in Assuta affair: Court rules to appoint guardian for baby Sophia (Meirav Cohen)
"The ministry views with severity the fact that Assuta Ramat Hachayal did not report the incident despite the ministry's procedures and the medical division's circular," the Health Ministry attacked Assuta Hospital on Friday, claiming that it did not report to the ministry about the possibility of another fertilization failure because it was at an early stage.
"According to the procedures, any significant and unusual incident must be reported, there is no doubt that this is the case in this incident. Reports of this type to professional and authorized bodies in the Ministry of Health are made in accordance with the law and maintain medical confidentiality in any case. It is therefore puzzling why Assuta reported the previous incident, which was also covered by medical confidentiality and in this incident they did not report," the ministry attacked, referring to the previous affair in which the hospital was involved, which was discovered last year.
"It is the responsibility of the medical institution to conduct a thorough and thorough investigation in parallel with an immediate report to the Ministry. This is expected of any medical institution. After an examination by the Ministry of Health with Assuta Ramat HaHayal, it became clear that this was not the case. Without a thorough examination of the incident, it is impossible to determine what happened. Any insinuation or other statement is irresponsible," the Health Ministry added, clarifying that "the ministry is continuing to investigate the incident."
Assuta Hospital, Ramat Hachayal branch, Tel Aviv (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Earlier today, we reported that Assuta Hospital Ramat Hachayal Branch knew about the suspected genetic discrepancy between father and son, a week before the Ministry of Health found out about it from a third party.
It should be noted that an examination of the case indicates that the parents, who underwent IVF at the Assuta Ramat Hachayal branch in 2018, found out about it during a private examination conducted on the child in Germany, due to health reasons and suspicion of the child's genetic problems. At first it was thought that this was a mistake, but two different tests pointed to the same results.
Now, the family must perform another genetic test in Israel to determine whether there is a genetic link between the father and the child. At this stage, parents are not ready to carry out such a test, and want to leave the situation that way. If they choose to undergo a test, in which it is discovered that there is no genetic link, Assuta Hospital will have to perform an internal examination in order to find fathers who may be involved.
After that, a parenting order must be issued to perform the tests, which is subject to the court's decision. Tomorrow, Assuta is expected to transfer the family's file to the Ministry of Health, which will instruct on the next steps for the hospital and the parents.
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Suspicion of another failure in Assuta (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Assuta Hospital published an official statement this morning stating that after an inquiry they made, no fault was found in their conduct. "The couple contacted Assuta about two weeks ago and in an oral conversation claimed a genetic discrepancy between the child and the father - based on a test he performed in a laboratory outside of Israel," they claimed. "The discourse was conducted only orally – the results of the examination are not in Assuta's hands, and the couple unequivocally demanded not to conduct an investigation and not to expand the circle of those involved, in order to ensure that his privacy and confidentiality are preserved."
"In light of these demands, Assuta is still in the very preliminary stage of the investigation, and it is unclear whether there was an incident, what happened, and whether Assuta is involved in it. Therefore, there was also no room at this stage for reporting to the Ministry of Health. The conversation with the couple raised a number of question marks - and at the moment we have no indication of a malfunction that occurred at Assuta! Due to medical confidentiality, we will not elaborate at this time."
"The unclear incident from 2018 should not be linked to the unfortunate mishap that occurred several months ago at Assuta Rishon. Since 2018, many processes, infrastructures and work procedures have changed greatly, and more technological and managerial improvement processes have been introduced – some for the first time in Israel – following the incident that occurred at Assuta Rishon. We will continue to update the Ministry of Health and the public as the details become clearer," they added.
Later, Assuta CEO Gidi Lashatz clarified in a letter to employees that so far the hospital has not found any indication of a malfunction in the laboratory. Schatz insisted that, based on the information they had, there was nowhere to report to the Health Ministry.
Less than a year after the embryo exchange affair (Photo: Flash 90, None)
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The incident takes place less than a year after the embryo exchange affair at Assuta Hospital in Rishon LeZion was exposed. In this case, it was discovered that a woman who gave birth through IVF was carrying a baby in her womb that was not biologically compatible with her. Two months ago, the Supreme Court decided not to allow genetic testing for six women, who were also being treated in the same IVF unit at the hospital, and had a chance to become the biological mothers of the baby.
A week ago, the Supreme Court officially ruled that baby Sophia would remain with the birth mother. The baby's birth parents told Walla of their reaction to the decision. "We excitedly told Sophia about the Supreme Court's decision," they said, "We are happy that we can finally be her parents without interruptions and at ease."
About three months ago, the Ministry of Health published a report on the investigation of the case, in which it determined that there are two women who are more likely to be the biological mothers of baby Sofia, but the court chose not to give weight to the report and continued with its previous ruling.
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