National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

June 23, 2023

Context:

A Delhi hospital has been ordered by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) to pay a fine of ₹1.5 crore for negligence and unethical practices.

The hospital had mistakenly used donor semen that did not belong to the person during an in vitro fertilization procedure.

Order of NCDRC:

There is a need to make it mandatory for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) centres to issue DNA profiling of babies born through ART procedures.
The commission has conveyed this to the National Medical Council and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
NCDRC has observed that mushrooming of IVF clinics has made unethical practices rampant in India.

About National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC):

It is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
Head office: New Delhi.
Headed by: a sitting or a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India or a sitting or a retired Chief Justice of High Court.
Jurisdiction:-
1. To entertain a complaint valued more than two crore
2. Appellate and Revisional jurisdiction from the orders of State Commissions or the District fora as the case may be.
Appeal: Any person aggrieved by an order of NCDRC, may prefer an Appeal against such order to Supreme Court of India within a period of 30 days.

What does Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) mean?

ART includes all fertility treatments in which both eggs and embryos are handled.
In general, ART procedures involve surgically removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning them to the woman’s body.
This mainly includes In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), ICSI, cryopreservation of gametes (egg or sperm) or embryos, PGT (Preimplantation Genetic Testing).
Through these procedures, many couples with otherwise untreatable infertility have given birth to healthy babies.

Types of ART:

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF):
- IVF is a method of assisted reproduction in which the woman’s eggs and man’s sperms are fertilised outside the body in a laboratory dish, which is why it is also called a ‘test tube baby’.
- One or more of these fertilised eggs (embryos) are then transferred in the woman’s womb, so that they can stick in the uterine lining and grow.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI):
- This is a special technique that is most useful for male factor infertility where the sperm count or quality is very poor.
- This mainly involves the same initial steps as for IVF, except that for the process of fertilisation, a special needle is used to inject the sperms inside the egg.
Cryopreservation of Gametes/Embryos:
- Cryopreservation or freezing is a technique in which the embryos, eggs and sperms are frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196 degree centigrade for prolonged periods.
- This is very useful for couples undergoing IVF treatment who have spare embryos left after the embryo transfer.
Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT)
- It is an early form of prenatal genetic diagnosis where abnormal embryos are identified.
- This enables the identification and selection of genetically healthy embryos, thus improving the chances of a healthy pregnancy.
- This technique is a boon for couples who are either carriers of or suffer from genetic disorders that can be passed to their offspring.