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A summary of the one hundred and ninth meeting of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on 28 June 2001.

Matters arising from the minutes of the May Authority meeting

The minutes of the May Authority meeting were approved.

The Chairman informed Members that licence committee meetings were still going on to discuss issues relating to the events at the Hampshire clinics. Members considered new information that related to an application for judicial review on the issue of putting more than 3 embryos back. Information had been sought from the Centre for Disease Control and a letter from them had been circulated for Members. Based on this, alongside additional information provided by the claimant, the issue was considered by Members. The Authority agreed that its advice should remain the same, the replacement of >3 embryos would not be a suitable practice in this case.

The Chairman asked Members to comment on some draft wording for the Code of Practice that reflected their decision in principle to move to a two embryo transfer policy agreed at the May Authority meeting. Wording was approved and it was agreed that a monitoring procedure would need to be introduced through the inspection system with centres being questioned about their triplet rates and selective reduction procedures.

Chairman's Business

No items were discussed under this agenda item.

HFEA Draft Annual Accounts 2000/01

Members approved the draft accounts.

Draft Programme for 2001 Annual Conference

Members agreed that the Annual Conference would be held at Regent's College, London on Tuesday 4th December 2001. The programme for the meeting would contain two panel discussions, one on embryo transfers and multiple births and one on donor anonymity. In addition, it was also agreed that there should be a number of workshops based on research, patient education and quality assurance. Members agreed that the annual conference should be opened up to the public and media on request and subject to availability.

Licensing Of Preimplantation Screening For Numerical Chromosomal Abnormality (Aneuploidy)

Members agreed that there were two categories of woman who might wish to use aneuploidy screening. One category would be older women who were at a higher risk of producing embryos that were aneuploid and the other would be those women who wanted better IVF results. Some concerns were reported from scientists working in the field about the reliability of aneuploidy screening and vulnerable patients being coerced into having it thinking it would improve their chances of having a baby. Issues of safety, efficacy and ethics were discussed and Members were asked if they had any reason for not approving aneuploidy screening in principle. After a full discussion, the Authority agreed to approve aneuploidy screening in principle. However, it was considered important that general licence conditions or guidance should be agreed.

Reports from Committees and Working Groups

Reports were presented from the Licensing and Fees Committee and the Ethics Committee. The Licensing and Fees Committee reported on discussions about the release of inspection reports, the in vitro maturation of oocytes, the chairing of HFEA inspections, reviewing the pool of inspectors and an inspection protocol for egg sharing.

The Ethics Committee reported on discussions about incentives given to those providing gametes for research and a response to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Consultation on Genetics and Human Behaviour. The proposed response would be presented to Members at their July meeting.

Chief Executive's Business

The Chief Executive updated Members on the Business and Corporate Plan, communication with centres about transmission risk in IVF media and the plans for changes in future accommodation for the HFEA.

Any Other Business

The 2002 Authority meeting dates were discussed.

Date of Next Meeting

The date of the next Authority meeting is Friday 27th July 2001 at 2pm

Page last updated: 24 October 2011

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