Fertility treatments on panorama bbc1 tonight

[Uponastarr]

Morning,

Inside britains fertility business on panorama
Bbc 1
8:30pm
Tonight - 28/11/16

Might be interesting viewing?

Statement from Zita West :

www.zitawest.com/a-personal-statement-from-dr-george-nduwke/

"In response to BBC Panorama:
“BBC Panorama claims we are doing the wrong thing, but according to one of my patients who after 9 failed cycles in another clinic conceived and had a beautiful baby girl with her 1st IVF cycle at the Zita West Assisted Fertility Clinic: ‘The real scandal is that there are IVF clinics out there who keep offering couples IVF treatment that fail time and time again (which couples are paying for) without trying to find out why the cycles are failing and ignoring the tremendous financial and psychological burden the couples are facing”.
My clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer (ET) for women under 35yr from Oct 1, 2015 – Sept 30, 2016, verified and confirmed by the independent embryology lab we use is 84.21% per ET. Some of these women have had previous failed IVF cycles. The UK national average clinical pregnancy rate for this age group, from the HFEA website, is 43.7%.
If I am doing the ‘wrong’ thing, and achieving such a result then perhaps I should never do the ‘right’ thing. Patients who come to the Zita West Clinic come because of our strong track record of success even with women who have had several failed IVF cycles. We will continue to do so.”

Without one amazing consultant I would not have my wonderful children, is all I know. And that same consultant pushed for us to get as many tests and medications from the NHS as possible, including writing to my GP and obstetrician and prescribing intralipids for me for subsequent pregnancies with no financial payment. After 10 years of heartache I guess I am biased because of the regime that worked for us ( lots of things not just intralipids).

When the majority of IVF is not funded by the NHS, which couple are going to be happy to go with 'yes, would you like to take part in this double blind trial? It might improve your chances, on the other hand you might be taking sugar pills, credit card or debit card?' Even getting to the IVF part is hideous, the psychological impact of the whole thing is horrendous anyway. I'm very thankful to one of the secretly filmed doctors for our dcs. At one point he actually refused our money, citing the 5 miscarriages and my body not accepting embryos. Went on to have immune treatment on 2 pregnancies. Interestingly I have a fair few autoimmune issues, which ties in with my blood results. Not sure how blood suddenly changes because it's in the uterus!!

bunny Prof Fishel wrote an article stating exactly that, about the challenges in getting proper RCTs off the ground for infertility medicine where couples aren't prepared to take the chance when paying for the base cycle

www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(13)00461-6/fulltext

I haven't seen the programme but I do think it's far too easy for clinics to push add ons that aren't proven to work.

We did a fresh cycle last year and the clinic were really keen for us to do Eeva. I looked at all the data that they used to claim the treatment was effective but, from studying statistics at Uni, realised that it wasn't statistically valid as the sample sizes were too small.

We refused the treatment as we thought it was was £££ for effectively taking part in a medical trial.

I think the information on how add ons affect chances should be a lot clearer, and clinics should be honest if they're basing sales (because that's what they are) on small samples of data.

I haven't watched the programme as I'm in the 2ww and don't want to risk getting irate. But at my clinic, you virtually have to beg for add-ons. No add-ons are ever even mentioned in consultations unless you do your research and mention them yourself, or you have had multiple failures. I have had 3 failed cycles this year so they finally gave me the endo scratch this time. We'll find out in a week if it has worked...

Ultimately my beautiful 3 year old would not exist without IVF, so I'm quite defensive of it in general. It seems to get a lot of stick from people who have never experienced it.

I thought the recent Panorama program in relation to Mr Ndukwe had been totally biased for many reasons.

Those who have undergone treatment with Mr Ndukwe will agree that he is indeed a very well respected Infertility Doctor who happens to be the best in Immunology in the UK.

I've had Infertility treatment under the care of Mr Ndukwe and Intralipids had been suggested we were made aware that there hadn't been sufficient evidence.

I was able to make an informed choice to have Intralipids as part of my treatment. The end result was a beautiful baby. All thanks to Mr Ndukwe and the treatment he recommended.

We decided to have another go and only to find out Mr Ndukwe was no longer at his previous place of work. So I knew I had to find him because I knew the only person I would allow to treat me is Mr Ndukwe. So I found out he was at Zita West Clinic and I was only happy to organise a consultation asap.

Intralipids were part of my treatment which I was delighted to have and the end result was a viable pregnancy.

My final words are thank God for Mr Ndukwe and Intralipids treatment.

A pretty thorough summary from the chair of the British Fertility Society - what panorama glossed over

www.adambalen.com/ivf-practices-challenged-2/

Thanks for sharing Banana, this provides a much more balanced view.

I had 4 failed IVFs and 3 failed IUI'S over 6 years from 34 to 40 years old. We had literally given up all hope. Then as a last ditch attempt we went to see DR George Ndukwe at Care. He was the first doctor to treat us with respect and compassion. He explained everything and answered all our questions. I got pregnant and now have a 6 year old daughter, I also then got pregnant again naturally at 43 years old and have a 3 and a half year old son. Both times I was treated with Intralipids by George. I had markers that showed I had very elevated immune responses. Although it was suggested I take steroids I didn't feel able to as I get such horrendous side effects. George supported me on this decision and said that the intralipds would be enough. They were. I had two babies. We had spent tens of thousands on ivf, Chinese medicine and acupuncture, nutritionists etc. We took supplements, stopped drinking caffeine and alcohol for many years and none of it worked. George helped us have two babies at 40 and 43 after years of being told my eggs were too old and I should use a donor. To me he is a miracle worker and a thoroughly decent and trustworthy man.

Lovely stories User and Rachie, I thought George was a genuine kind man when I met him (though I didn't go with ZW clinic in the end). He is portrayed terribly in the programme and sadly there will be people who judge him because of it.

In follow up to my last message he also treated a friend who had secondary infertility and experienced 3 miscarriages. He advised her against IVF and
suggested she just use intralipids (which would only cost a few hundred pounds) instead of thousands. She now has a 3 year old daughter. It worked for her first time. He also treated several other people we know successfully (one unsuccessfully) and he waivered his fee when he helped me with my 2nd pregnancy. Perhaps not a major thing as it was just a phone consultation/referral, but for those who have had lots of IVF, as we did, I can't think of a single other doctor who would've done the same. And certainly not the behaviour of a man who is only in it for profit.