profession
Calif. medical board expands case against octuplet doctor
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 26, 2010
Nadya Suleman, the woman whose IVF-conceived octuplets sparked nationwide controversy, was not the only victim of "gross negligence" by fertility specialist Michael Kamrava, MD, according to an amended accusation the Medical Board of California filed June 30.
While all of Suleman's children survived, the embryos of another of Dr. Kamrava's patients did not fare as well, according to the accusation. In September 2008, Dr. Kamrava transferred seven embryos into a 48-year-old woman identified as L.C., five more than recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The woman became pregnant with quadruplets, but one fetus miscarried and one child was born with "profound developmental delays," the board's accusation said.
In another patient with a history of cancer, an ultrasound showed ovarian cysts. But Dr. Kamrava went ahead with a March 2009 IVF procedure and did not refer her for further testing, the board charged. A month later, the patient got a second opinion, and surgery revealed stage III ovarian cancer, according to the board's accusation.
A hearing in Dr. Kamrava's case is scheduled for October.
Dr. Kamrava, who practices in Beverly Hills, Calif., did not respond to American Medical News' interview requests before this article's deadline.
In a July interview on ABC's "Nightline," he defended his actions in Suleman's case, saying he did things "the right way ... under the circumstances."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/07/26/prbf0726.htm.
