Asch Is Gone--Now Move On

University of California regents were right this month to fire Dr. Ricardo Asch, one of three physicians involved in the fertility scandal at UC Irvine. Academic freedom is important, as the university’s stewards have recognized for decades, but in this case it was outweighed by Asch’s activities.

Asch, Jose P. Balmaceda and Sergio Stone were the heart of the acclaimed fertility clinic they operated in partnership with UCI. The clinic was closed after it was found five years ago that eggs were improperly harvested and implanted among unwitting donors and recipients and that some births resulted. The federal government charged the three doctors with mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud patients of their genetic material.

Asch fled to his native Argentina and Balmaceda to Mexico. Stone was convicted of fraudulently billing insurance companies but was acquitted of conspiracy and tax evasion. Balmaceda did not have tenure at the university. Stone, like Asch, did, and he too was fired.

UCI’s medical school has suffered several scandals in recent years, but none worse than at the fertility clinic. Administrators have properly taken steps to demand more accountability and to tighten procedures.

Asch’s lawyer contends the doctor did nothing unethical and that all the problems were clerical. It is unfortunate he has not returned to this country to contest the charges in court.

The charges are still pending, and although the university contends the three doctors owe about $1.7 million for underreported income, last week’s firing of Asch removes the last member of a notorious trio. This should allow the school to get on with the job of teaching good medicine.