Two senior medical personnel were arrested this morning (Monday) on suspicion of knowingly returning embryos fertilized from eggs imported from Georgia with a severe genetic disease, to the mercy of Israeli patients. The police attribute to the detainees, including a professor of gynecology who also owns a private clinic, and a laboratory manager at a recognized hospital, fraudulently obtaining something under aggravating circumstances and an act that might spread disease and serious crimes. The suspects were interrogated and the Magistrate’s Court in Bat Yam released them to house arrest until Thursday, and prohibited the publication of their names.
According to the suspicion, the eggs were extracted from women with hemophilia, and the two knew that they were returning embryos with a genetic defect to the wombs of the Israeli patients. The police collected the testimonies of three women who were affected by the treatment, including one who had a quiet birth in the advanced week and one who gave birth to a baby with hemophilia. The police estimate that there are other women who have not yet complained.
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Frozen eggs, illustration. A lawyer for a woman who gave birth to a baby carrying the disease: the doctor knew that the egg donor from Georgia was documented as a hemophilia carrier, and said everything was fine Photo: Michael Wyke/AP
Frozen eggs, illustration. A lawyer for a woman who gave birth to a baby carrying the disease: the doctor knew that the egg donor from Georgia was documented as a hemophilia carrier, and said everything was fine Photo: Michael Wyke/AP
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The two suspects are well-known and senior figures in the field of in vitro fertilization. One is a laboratory manager in one of the busiest IVF units in Israel, who is also involved in another private business as a consultant in a private clinic in the center of the country. He claimed in his investigation that he was not involved in obtaining the eggs, and his role was to convey the information received to the Ministry of Health. The clinic was founded regarding 15 years ago by the second detainee – a well-known professor in the field of fertilization, with another well-known professor. The investigation materials in their case were accumulated as part of an undercover investigation that has been going on for several months in the fraud unit of the Tel Aviv district, in cooperation with the MTM (advanced technological systems) unit in the Intelligence Division and with the assistance of the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General’s Office. Among other things, a search was carried out today at the private clinic in Tel Aviv.
In the list of clinics abroad recognized by the Ministry of Health for the purpose of importing eggs to Israel, there is currently one clinic in Georgia, located in Tbilisi, through which the eggs are imported to Israel. However, this is not the same clinic. For years, the clinic owned by the professor engaged in importing eggs from Kiev, Ukraine, but on the clinic’s website It was noted that “immediately with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, and with the aim of continuing to provide services to the clinic’s patients, an in vitro fertilization unit was established in a unique clinic in the city of Batumi, Georgia,” and that the owners of the clinic (the detainee and his partner) “personally travel to Batumi every month and perform egg donation and surrogacy treatments with Israeli embryologists and a team of experts.”
The Commissioner of Public Acceptance ordered the establishment of an inspection committee, which worked with the attorney’s office and the Israel Police to clarify the suspicions. At the same time, it was decided in the Ministry of Health not to allow the continued import of eggs and fertilized eggs from that clinic at this stage. The ministry announced that it ordered all the managers of the in vitro fertilization units in Israel to locate the women whose eggs were imported from the unit in question, in order to inform them regarding the risk and allow them to make an informed decision regarding the use of the eggs.
Private clinics that import eggs from abroad are required for one of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) units in the hospitals to serve as a receiving unit, where the clinic’s doctors will perform the procedure of inserting the embryos from the donated eggs. In one case, which ended in birth, the clinic’s doctors used the hospital’s IVF units In the center of the country.
Attorney Shira Friedan of Caspi Seror & Co., who represents the woman who gave birth to a baby with the disease, said in a conversation with Haaretz that the doctor who was arrested “knew that the egg donor from Georgia was documented as a hemophilia carrier, and yet he said everything was fine. The doctor was asked at the stage of returning the embryos Were the required genetic tests conducted and he said that an extended panel would be done, so she continued the process, but the tests were not correct.”
Lawyer Shay Roda, who represents the professor, said: “My client claims that he followed all the procedures and protocols of the Ministry of Health, and even beyond that. The professor is cooperating with the investigating authorities, and believes that the court will release him from custody at the end of the investigation.”
