In St. Louis they'd ask: "Whose sperm is on first?"

In St. Louis they'd ask: "Whose sperm is on first?"

Every once in a while, you come across a story so outrageous that you have trouble believing it's true. This is just such a story. This story from the Greenwich Times is about a fertility doctor who allegedly replaced donor sperm with his own.

Here is what they are writing about the doctor. For nearly seven years, none of Dr. B. D. R's patients have known that the prominent obstetrician/gynecologist had been accused of an almost unimaginable act—substituting his own sperm for that of a patient's husband during an artificial insemination procedure. Did he really do this? Or are we just trying to sell news?

They say the case began in 2002 when a woman visited the doctor Brookside Greenwich Ob-Gyn Associates to have an intrauterine insemination performed. She brought with her a sample of her husband's sperm with the hope that the treatment might help the couple get pregnant.

Nine months later, she gave birth to twin girls.

It should have been a joyous occasion, but the mixed-race couple quickly noticed something wasn't right. The twins had a strikingly fair complexion that seemed impossible, considering their father was black. Their appearance was so uncharacteristic of the couple that people frequently asked if the twins were adopted, according the lawsuit.

After several months of speculation and anxiety, in March 2004 the couple sought a paternity test. The husband was not the twins' biological father. This isn't good.

The couple is reported to have filed a lawsuit claiming that the doctor replaced the husband's sperm with his own in the procedure. Now how would they know this? Reportedly, the doctor, for his part, claimed that the error was a simple mistake, and not the result of deliberate interference in the fertility process. I haven’t reviewed any pleadings so I have no way of knowing if in fact that is what the Petition stated. But it’s probably not important for this story about professional transparency and being organized.

I'd like to hope the story is wrong and if it is accurate that this isn't what the good doctor is claiming. And this is where the story becomes a little far fetched, because I have to wonder how you would mistakenly mix up your own sperm with that of a patient. Mentally I have a difficult time imagining … I don't even want to go there...

According to report investigators found that the doctor's record-keeping was atrocious; the sperm samples weren't labeled, and no records were kept of his procedures in the office. Irrespective of whether or not this means that the accident was a simple mistake, this level of disorganization is unacceptable in the field of medicine that is based around being clean, sterile and precise. If you're brilliant at what you do but suck at running a business then hire an office manager that can.

But there is more; and what is the most outrageous part of this story? As reported, after pleading no-contest to the accusation that he used the wrong sperm for this couple's insemination (he didn't confess to using his sperm, just another man's sperm, which makes this story as written even more confusing), it's reported that he was fined $10,000, allowed to continue practicing medicine and that he’s currently working at a Connecticut clinic. I’d like to know he’s under someone else’s supervision, wouldn't you? That might make me feel better.

Thirty years ago when I started practicing law it occurred to me that I'd be out of business in the not-too-distant future. I strongly suspected people would figure out that most of these problems I was litigating were easily solved and they would start to do the right thing; leaving me without cases to litigate. How naive was I back then?

Should you have to wonder about whose sperm is inside of you?

Apparently this isn’t an isolated incident in the fertility business caused by carelessness. Here is another story from San Francisco. This legal commentator being interviewed has pretty good suggestions about what to do when the process is fouled up, but that is where I our agreement end. In the case at issue the wrong sperm was used to fertilize the wife’s eggs. The clinic figured it out and before notifying the couple disposed of the fertilized eggs. The couple wasn’t happy and allegedly they sued the clinic claiming they would have liked to have had the opportunity to donate the fertilized eggs to a couple who can’t have children. Okay nice suggestion but why sue? The one thing I fail to appreciate is how the couple would calculate any damages for the destroyed fertilized eggs. They don't seem to be saying they wanted to conceive and raise that baby with the mixed up sperm; so where are your damages? Without damages what do you hope to gain by suing the clinic? Yes, the contract was violated but how were they damaged?

So let us get back to our original story. I have to wonder about what is more outrageous: The initial incident or the system not doing more to protect future unsuspecting patients. Either way both border on the unthinkable and in this case carelessness with a couple's future happiness is entwined with incredible unthinkable narcissism. Most professionals take their jobs seriously. Every once in a while you run across a situation that makes you think the sky is falling in. It isn't, but making us think it is sells ad time on TV. This is just one of those situations. Regardless of how I might feel about the news reporting, this case demonstrates the need for transparency and a high level of accountability in the medical profession.

Trying to put this in perspective only one thing comes to mind…