ASRM Response to Octuplets

On Friday, 2/13, The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) put out an official response to the Suleman octuplet case. I'd like to share it with you.

I am sure all of us have followed with interest and concern the unfolding story of the Suleman octuplets in California. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of what ASRM and SART have been doing in response.

Our Public Affairs office began taking calls (after business hours on the East Coast) the evening the birth of the octuplets was announced on Wednesday, January 28. In these early days of the story we focused on reminding the media that while the successful delivery of the octuplets was novel, such a high order multiple birth should not be considered a desirable medical outcome.

On Friday January 30th an interview with the children’s grandmother made it appear that IVF treatment had indeed been involved. That morning we released a statement from ASRM President Dale McClure MD. That statement emphasized that we did not have the facts in this case, but that in recent years ASRM and SART had been working very hard, and with a fair amount of success, to reduce the number of high order multiple births. (That statement, and all our press releases are available at www.asrm.org.) By weeks end the Public Affairs Office had responded to well over 100 calls, and ASRM staff and leaders had done dozens of interviews.

Over the course of the next week, the volume of media calls remained very, very high. However, since no new information emerged, the media questions and coverage became increasingly speculative in nature. Because we did not feel it was responsible to engage in that speculation, we began to curtail our responsiveness. Meanwhile, SART sent a communication to its membership seeking any information anyone had on the situation.

As the Today show began to air its interview with the mother on February 6, she indicated all her children were the result of IVF and all from the same physician, and subsequent media reports named the physician. On Monday February 9, ASRM President McClure issued another statement, again emphasizing the field’s success in reducing the number of high order multiples, and indicating we were interested in looking into the matter. On Tuesday, February 10th I sent a letter to the California Medical Board stating our interest in this matter and our willingness to assist them in their inquiry. SART President Elizabeth Ginsburg, MD sent a letter to the physician named in media reports to ask for information about the treatment of this patient.

Examining and learning from both successful and unsuccessful cases is a vital component of medical education and an important tool in improving clinical practice. We are seeking information so that all of us may better understand how to avoid additional extreme high order multiple births. Moreover, we have all worked too hard to improve care and reduce the number of high order multiples to allow one unfortunate outcome to taint the whole field. Both ASRM and SART have membership standards and disciplinary procedures and should the facts warrant, those procedures will be used.

It is important to note that we do not have all the facts. At present I would say we have very little information, and most of what we think we know has come from sometimes conflicting media reports. All of us need to be very cautious before coming to any conclusions. We will keep you informed as additional information becomes available.

Robert W. Rebar, M.D.
Executive Director
American Society for Reproductive Medicine