Following a judicial protest filed by St James Hospital Group Ltd director Josie Muscat against Dr Paul Soler regarding comments the latter had made on a television programme regarding in vitro fertilisation (IVF), the neo-natal paediatrician stood by what he had listed as the direct consequences of high order pregnancies.

Dr Soler filed a counter-protest yesterday in which he claimed he was ready to stand by what he had highlighted as the problems with these pregnancies. Namely, Dr Soler said that Dr Muscat had said that comments made by Dr Soler during the 7 June broadcast of Bondi + regarding IVF were directed at him and his clinic, since the St James Assisted Reproduction Clinic is the only place where IVF procedures are carried out.

In the counter-protest, Dr Soler claimed that Dr Muscat wrongly attributed comments and allegations that he, Dr Soler, had never made. Dr Soler also mentioned that Dr Muscat mistakenly concluded that all the comments made directly referred to him.

The paediatrician said that he stood by what he had declared regarding the consequences of high order pregnancies. He said these types of pregnancies carry a high risk of deformities in babies. He also added that the Special Baby Care Unit is unable to cope with the large number of multiple birth babies being admitted and also that the death rate among these babies is around 10 times higher than that in single births and twins.

“These facts are undisputable statistics,” the paediatrician added, saying that they cannot be changed or retracted simply because Dr Muscat was offended by them. Dr Soler said both he and Dr Muscat agreed that infertility treatment is not regulated, but he added that Dr Muscat would like it to remain that way, while he wanted to see things change.

“In a democracy, people have the right to express their opinions, even if they are not be appreciated by others,” he said. In the light of this, Dr Soler reiterated that he intended to substantiate the statement he had made on television and in other forms of the media.

The paediatrician demanded that Dr Muscat halt any further judicial procedures, since he concluded that they would be useless and would also impinge on his freedom of expression, breaching his fundamental human rights.

The counter-protest was filed yesterday by Dr Joseph Zammit Maempel.