Oversight Is Always Essential : Reproductive technology case shows that UC Irvine needs to be more open

Investigators from a number of agencies are looking into allegations of wrongdoing at the UC Irvine Center for Reproductive Health. Also needed is an investigation into the university’s own handling of the accusations against the doctors, three of its most prominent faculty members.

Last week the university itself accused the three top researchers at the Center for Reproductive Health with transplanting patients’ eggs without consent and conducting human subject research without permission. The school also accused the trio with prescribing a fertility drug not approved by the government and with hiding cash payments from UC Irvine administrators.

The doctors have denied all accusations. All three were placed on leave and one has resigned from the faculty. Several women who have been able to give birth after receiving treatment at the center have stepped forward to praise the trio, saying they were devoted to their patients. There are no allegations of physical harm to any patients.

But the university said that after a whistle-blower charged last September that eggs were being taken and transplanted improperly, it set established panels to look into the center’s operations. It said that one panel found “plausible evidence” to support the allegations on taking eggs, but could not reach a definite conclusion because the doctors failed to cooperate.

Yet rather than asking for additional outside help in the probe, which it should have done, the university added restrictions on the doctors and ordered that they be monitored. Only this month, after the allegations became known, did the university publicly acknowledge them. Now the Orange County district attorney’s office, the state auditor general and other agencies are investigating the center.

Reproductive technology is a relatively new and unregulated field. The university needs to be more open with patients and quicker in resolving allegations in such cases. Otherwise it risks poisoning the atmosphere in an area that has offered new hope to many people.