• Issue dates
• Regions
• Health plans
• Sections
• News briefs
• Columns
• Editorials
• Letters

Calif. medical board expands case against octuplet doctor

Nadya Suleman, the woman whose IVF-conceived octuplets sparked nationwide controversy, was not the only victim of "gross negligence" by fertility specialist Michael Kamrava, MD, according to an amended accusation the Medical Board of California filed June 30.

While all of Suleman's children survived, the embryos of another of Dr. Kamrava's patients did not fare as well, according to the accusation. In September 2008, Dr. Kamrava transferred seven embryos into a 48-year-old woman identified as L.C., five more than recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The woman became pregnant with quadruplets, but one fetus miscarried and one child was born with "profound developmental delays," the board's accusation said.

In another patient with a history of cancer, an ultrasound showed ovarian cysts. But Dr. Kamrava went ahead with a March 2009 IVF procedure and did not refer her for further testing, the board charged. A month later, the patient got a second opinion, and surgery revealed stage III ovarian cancer, according to the board's accusation.

A hearing in Dr. Kamrava's case is scheduled for October.

Dr. Kamrava, who practices in Beverly Hills, Calif., did not respond to American Medical News' interview requests before this article's deadline.

In a July interview on ABC's "Nightline," he defended his actions in Suleman's case, saying he did things "the right way ... under the circumstances."

Back to top

Prostate cancer risk of death predicted by baseline PSA

Men who have a baseline prostate-specific antigen level of 10 ng/mL or higher the first time they are tested are roughly 11 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than men with lower initial values, according to a study posted online June 29 in Cancer.

Researchers analyzed data on 4,568 men in the Duke Prostate Center database who had their baseline PSA measurement between August 1987 and March 2009. The men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. The median age of the men at baseline was 65 years. The median baseline PSA was 4.5 ng/mL, and the average follow-up period was more than nine years (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20589748).

Researchers found that men with a baseline PSA of 4.0 ng/mL to 9.9 ng/mL had a threefold higher rate of death from prostate cancer than those with levels of less than 2.5 ng/mL. Men whose baseline PSA was 10 ng/mL or greater had an 11.5-fold higher rate of death.

The study concludes that baseline PSA is a reliable predictor of death from prostate cancer. Researchers said baseline levels also can be used to stratify patients at risk of death from the disease, along with other factors, including a patient's age and race.

This content was published online only.

Back to top