Santa Claus in the Fertility Clinic

Human Reproduction (May 21, 2016): Santa Claus in the Fertility Clinic, by Hans Evers:

The editor-in-chief of this premier medical journal criticizes infertility physicians for creating therapeutic illusions with misdiagnoses, useless medications, and unnecessary treatment.  Evers is referring specifically to the unnecessary use of intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in cases where in vitro fertilization (IVF) by itself would be sufficient to create a viable pregnancy.  ICSI is indicated in cases of male-factor infertility, but such cases do not comprise the majority of infertility cases.  Evers bases his evaluation on data covering 2008 through 2010 and gathered by the International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technology (ICMART).  The data show that the ICSI-to-IVF ratio varies from 1.4 in Asia to a staggering 60.3 in the Middle East.  Studies show that the use of ICSI in non-male-factor infertility cases results in fewer lives births than the use of IVF alone.  It does not improve the chances of a successful fertilization in such cases.  Evers calls for the end of this costly and ineffective therapeutic illusion.