Registration tussle: Infertility clinic goes to court over warnings

Medical council justifies warning letters to doctors; SHC adjourns hearing.

KARACHI: A clinic specialising in infertility treatment has incurred the wrath of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

On a plea filed at the Sindh High Court by the Concept Fertility Centre, the regulatory authority has submitted that a number of senior, renowned doctors working at the clinic are doing so without necessary registration.

In its counter comments, the council also alleged that the claims made by the facility in its advertisements published in the print media are “unethical” as per the authority’s Code of Ethics.

The PMDC had sent warning letters dated January 9, 2010, April 27, 2010 and October 20, 2010 to the doctors working at the clinic. The letters were issued to Dr Faridoon Setna, Dr Razia Ahmed, Dr Sadiah Ahsan Pal and Dr Amjad Noor. The healthcare facility took the matter to court, terming the notices “uncalled for” and “illegal”.

In its comments, the PMDC – the main respondent in the case besides the health ministry – justified the warning letters, maintaining that every doctor intending to practice in Pakistan must be registered with the PMDC and renew their registration every year according to the rules. The doctors in question have not renewed their registration for the past 18 to 22 years, it was stated.

On Friday, Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Muhammad Farooq Shah took up the case. The clinic’s lawyer Farooq Rashid asked for a copy of the PMDC’s comments and time to file a rejoinder. The court granted his request and put off the hearing for two weeks.

The Australia-based Concept Fertility Centre is a private limited company providing highly specialised and technologically advanced infertility treatment services comparable with the highest international standards. The company provides facilities including in vitro fertilisation, embryo cryopreservation, assisted hatching, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, ovarian tissue cryopreservation, and hormone and semen evaluation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2012.