Assessing the Risk of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome in Egg Donation: Implications for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Ethical and Psychosocial Impact of Female Infertility

“…Others, however, have argued that incidence rates of OHSS are not applicable to oocyte donors, especially if proper precautions are taken. New developments may help to defuse this debate [10]. First, new stimulation protocols, such as replacing human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) with hLH or gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) for women who do not have PCOS, has been suggested to reduce the risk of OHSS [11, 12].…”

The Conundrum of Oocyte Donation, Human Research, OHSS, and Ethics

“…Rebecca Bamford, University of Minnesota Rochester Ellison and Meliker (2011) direct our attention to ethical problems concerning risk that arise from the use of human eggs (ooctyes) in stem cell research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The authors identify that the chief risk associated with ovulation induction is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).…”

Reconsidering Risk to Women: Oocyte Donation for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

“…. rates and risk proportions [and] statistically adjusted rate ratios of getting OHSS, given the exposure of ovulation induction medications," and to recommend screening for "immunological responses to ovarian stimulation drugs, medical history, and type of drugs used" (Ellison and Meliker 2011), in making this claim by appealing to Kenney and McGowan's (2008) analysis of data collected from reproductive (rather than research) oocyte donors, they invoke the same error in reasoning. The problems of hasty generalization and unrepresentative sample thus also apply here.…”