Sao Paulo, Aug 25 (EFE) Roger Abdelmassih, a Brazilian doctor arrested last week on charges that he sexually abused dozens of patients, is also under investigation for manipulating genetic material at his fertility clinic here, Globo television has reported.
The new allegations were levelled by a task force from the Sao Paulo state attorney general’s office after questioning patients who claim they were sexually abused and even raped at the clinic.
Prosecutors cited by Globo said some patients told investigators that the doctor proposed using eggs from other women if he was unable to fertilise their eggs.
65-year-old Abdelmassih allegedly said he could use eggs from other women, keeping the procedures secret, even from patients’ spouses.
The doctor, whose Sao Paulo clinic counted some Brazilian celebrities among its patients, has been officially accused of sexually abusing 56 patients, who were offered artificial insemination and other fertility treatments.
The victims alleged that they caught the doctor touching them inappropriately or abusing them as they awakened from anaesthesia administered for various procedures.
Some patients said they now had doubts about whether the children they bore following the specialist’s treatments were the product of their own eggs or those of other women.
Abdelmassih’s success rate in helping women with fertility problems have children exceeded that of other clinics.
Allegations of genetic manipulation were bolstered by chemical engineer Paulo Henrique Ferraz Bastos, who worked at Abdelmassih’s clinic for two years.
Bastos told Globo in an interview Sunday night that Abdelmassih carried out ethically questionable research.
“Scandalous research was conducted at Dr. Roger’s clinic,” Bastos said, adding that he worked at a veterinary company hired to assist with genetic research on humans at Abdelmassih’s clinic.
“I was uncomfortable with the fact that part of my company’s research had been transferred to a clinic for humans. It dealt with animal cell cultures being worked on at a human clinic,” Bastos said.
The case against the doctor includes allegations that he used controversial methods, such as transferring cytoplasm, a practice banned in the US in 2001.
This technique involves removing the cytoplasm from a young woman’s fertile egg and injecting it into the egg of a patient who is experiencing difficulties getting pregnant to improve the chances of fertilization.
Abdelmassih was arrested Aug 17 and remains behind bars.
