The next part of the script unusually involves activists calling for enhanced regulation or better laws.
Monash IVF is the largest fertility specialist in the country, but its reputation has been damaged.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Advocates are also lobbying for all those who use assisted reproductive technology to have their babies DNA tested, which, if implemented, could uncover if other mistakes have gone undetected.
And no scandal is complete without a politician or two making some hay by grabbing a microphone and castigating the culprits.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was the first to step up this week, calling the embryo mix-up “completely unacceptable”.
“It’s very clear to me that the board of Monash IVF needs to have a very good look at what’s going on,” Thomas said.
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“Clearly their clinical governance standards are not what they should be.”
But amid the outrage there is another group that will also sustain collateral damage – the shareholders – although sympathy for this group will be way more muted.
They have seen the share price of Monash IVF plunge after the first incident was revealed in April and after the company cut its 2025 full-year profit guidance by 11 per cent.
It took another dive this week when the second implant bungle was revealed, taking this calendar year’s stock performance down by 50 per cent.
The shares kicked up by 5.7 per cent on Thursday on the news of the departing chief, but this represents a small recovery.
Enter the investment bank analysts who use their sophisticated models to provide commentary on the impacts of these types of events on a company’s market share and future earnings.
In the case of Monash, their opinions run the gamut of possibilities.
RBC Capital markets suggests that the fallout from the original bungle in Monash’s Queensland clinic would confine the loss of market share to that state, and not impact too heavily on other state operations. But given there have now been two separate embryo transfer incidents in different states, it believes there is risk of a greater impact of a spread of reputational damage and market share losses. It has a negative stance on the stock.
Macquarie Equities has a somewhat different view. It acknowledges the reputational damage, but says the stock is oversold and represents a good buying opportunity.
You could characterise its advice as “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”.
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