Conflicts of interest in Australia’s IVF industry: an empirical analysis and call for action

Abstract

In Australia, the growing assisted reproductive technologies (ART) industry has recently received some public criticism. Much of this criticism centres on the concern that doctors are increasingly motivated by profit, rather than patient interests. These concerns appear to suggest that the growing business of ART generates conflicts of interest (COI) for clinicians. While media reports may be rhetorically compelling, claims that ART practice is distorted by COI must be supported by empirical evidence. This preliminary study sought to engage with people involved with the ART industry and map out their concerns related to COI in ART. A small convenience sample of eight professionals was interviewed. Here, we present the major themes uncovered, including a richer understanding of the ‘interests’ of various parties involved in Australian ART. We then propose a strategy for how this topic could be constructively explored.

Keywords:

• Conflict of interest
• artificial reproductive techniques
• Australia
• funding

Disclosure statement

Ian Kerridge was previously a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee (2012–15) and was a member of the NHMRC Working Group that drafted the 2017 NHMRC Guidelines for Assisted Reproductive Technologies. He is also a haematologist/Bone Marrow Transplant Physician he has referred many patients for management of infertility resulting from chemotherapy and transplantation. He has also previously been an investigator on an ARC-funded study of oocyte donation for stem cell research.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council under Project Grant 1059732.