The great IVF rip-off: Women being charged three times the cost of their treatment, says Lord Winston

December 26th, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Anna Edwards

Last updated at 12:39 PM on 26th December 2011

An IVF pioneer has accused fertility clinics of exploiting women desperate to conceive, claiming they charge three times the actual cost of the treatment.

In an interview with the Independent, Labour peer Lord Robert Winston attacked some of the charges – by both private practitioners and the NHS – branding them a ‘scandal’.

He claimed some greedy clinics and women desperate to have a child motivated the costs.

'Exploited': Women are paying 'more than they should' for IVF treatment

‘Exploited’: Women are paying ‘more than they should’ for IVF treatment

The National Institute for Clinical
Excellence recommends that eligible women aged from 23 to 39 are offered
three cycles of treatment on the NHS.

But there are reportedly wide variations in how closely primary care trusts follow the guidance.

Figures show more than 45,000 women had fertility treatment in 2010, with 60 per cent paying for themselves and 40 per cent treated on the NHS.

For the majority who pay for the treatment, the average basic cost of treatment is £2,500 in clinics run by the NHS and £3,500 in private clinics, plus the price of drugs and tests which can double the bill, the newspaper reported.

Lord Robert Winston said the IVF market was driven by greedy clinics and desperate women

Lord Winston, the former head of the NHS IVF clinic at Hammersmith Hospital, told the newspaper: ‘My view is that both NHS and private clinics are charging much more than the cost of delivering the treatment.’

Calculating the costs for a large unit
treating 2,000 patients a year, he concluded that the treatment could
be delivered for £700 a cycle, which would reach £1,200 to £1,300 a
cycle when overheads are included.

He
blasted the current fees as ‘pure exploitation’, adding: ‘The NHS is
basing its fees not on what it costs but on what it thinks the market
will bear.’

The market was being driven by both ‘avarice on the part of the clinics and desperation on the part of the women’, he added.

In
his interview, he also attacked the use of experimental techniques by
private clinics, accusing them of profiting from techniques that had not
been trialled.

Lord Winston also attacked clinics charging hundreds of pounds to store frozen embryos and eggs when he claimed it should cost just £10 a year.

Addressing the criticism, Simon Fishel, managing director of private IVF provider Care Fertility, said Lord Winston’s own private practice at the Royal Masonic Hospital in the 1990s ‘charged among the highest prices’.

Mr Fishel said he ‘wrestled with’ the ethics of using new tests on patients for which there was only anecdotal evidence, but added: ‘In the end treatment must be evidence-based but it doesn’t mean you have to start off from there.’

In response, Lord Winston told the Independent all money raised from his private work had gone to charity and to treating NHS patients.

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Though I’ve never understood why IVF or any other non medically necessary procedure should be available on the NHS, I have often wondered how the ridiculous IVF costs are justified generally. Of course it’s a marketer’s dream; desperate people, willing to do anything and everything to pay for something that is certainly not guaranteed or even statistically terribly likely, over and over again.

– caroline, Cape Town, South Africa, 26/12/2011 14:07

Adopt, there are tons of kids needing love. If you can’t have one naturally, just adopt. Genetic download is just nonsense. Love is love.

– Edward, Dundee, 26/12/2011 13:58

In the USA you can get an abortion as easy as picking up some McDonalds. Its supported and pushed in schools and supported and pushed with our tax dollars. If you actually want to have a baby its $15,000 dollars just to place the sperm inside. We looked into it. Our friend, after she had a baby, said her bills are now about $40,000 dollars.

– William, Atlanta, USA, 26/12/2011 13:37

just proves that the socialist peer doesn’t understand the profit motive or believe in choice for the consumer

– felix, vera playa, spain, 26/12/2011 13:16

The fairest approach for all us is to simply ban IVF, full stop, and make it much easier for infertile couples to adopt. Thus no IVF rip-offs, fewer multiple births fewer preventable birth defects and less money squandered on counterproductive treatment and a greater focus on providing for children already here, rather selfishly pursuing the dream of perfect biological offspring. Parenthood is not a right, it’s a privilege and life is never fair, but we can make fairer by caring moe for each other. The UK has over 200,000 severely neglected or unwanted kids. Think before you procreate and if you can’t, uyou can always do your bit for humanity through adoption.

– Food for thought, London, 26/12/2011 12:53

I dont particularly warm to Lord Winston but he has made a real contribution to medicine and education. I too have amazing twin daughters resulting from care at the Royal Masonic in the early 90’s when it was almost impossible to get this treatment from anywhere else. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

– Mike, Denham, 26/12/2011 12:16

To be fair, My best friend is an embryologist who has work both for the NHS and the Nuffield Hospital group and her job in the NHS it’s basically a conveyor belt whereas in the private hospital there was more time between patients and less of a rush!

– Jeffiner, Glasgow, 26/12/2011 12:05

I wish Lord Winston would ditch his moustache. Regarding the story, every medical procedure is overpriced. I paid two hundred quid for a ten minute consultation.

– MooMoo, UK, 26/12/2011 11:43

I had ICSI at a private London hospital. It cost £8000 in total. Fortunately, we were successful first time as we couldn’t have afforded it again.
These hospitals and clinics know we are desperate and desperate people will pay through the nose for a glimmer of hope.

– Amanda, London, 26/12/2011 11:25

Lord Winston is not a practicing doctor. He is a media doctor. His interest is in self promotion. I would not pay this man any attention.

– hayes30, London uk, 26/12/2011 11:11

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