IVF related death in England

The news site thisislondon.co.uk has a story about a woman who died from complications suffered during egg retrieval during IVF treatment at Leicester Royal Infirmary in England. Details are sketchy, but if the complication was a direct result of the egg retrieval procedure this will have been the first death involving IVF treatment in Britain. The couple are originally from India and were now living in Leicester, England.

This is a very sad story and a reminder that even procedures that have come to be routine still carry an element of risk. One aspect of the story to note is that although India has become a major destination for IVF treatment due to its high quality fertility centers and low prices, this Indian couple elected to have the IVF procedure in England. There is a certain irony to this when one considers how the western medical establishment disparages treatment at offshore medical centers, and then a rare death like this occurs at a British facility.