IVF ‘Add-ons’ Rest on Shaky Science

New reporting from STAT provides an in-depth look at the multi-billion dollar IVF industry’s practice of selling ‘add-on’ treatments lacking in effectiveness. The story originated from new studies in the December 2019 journal Fertility and Sterility. Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos and Jack Wilkinson, co-authors of one of the papers, offer added context.

Here’s an excerpt: “The critics say they want patients to understand that the add-ons’ scientific basis is as squishy as quicksand. ‘Patients are given the impression that the procedures have been studied and shown to be effective,’ said Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos, Wilkinson’s co-author and an IVF patient in the early 2000s (she remains childless) who advocates greater transparency. ‘But in most cases they haven’t been. You’re on your own at a time when you’re in no position to be objective.’ ”

Read the full story here