Health officials warn of death cap mushroom risk in Victorian home gardens as wet, cool autumn fuels growth
The Victorian health department is warning residents to stay on high alert, with poisonous mushrooms posing a serious threat in home gardens as a cool, wet autumn sets in.
The aptly named death cap mushroom is of particular concern, as ingesting the fungi can be fatal and cooking the mushroom does not inactivate the toxin as is commonly thought.
Death cap mushrooms ( Amanita phalloides), as with most species of fungi, grow more rapidly in wetter conditions.
A range of poisonous mushrooms, including death cap mushrooms and yellow-staining mushrooms, become more prevalent in Victoria at this time of year.
Even a single mushroom can be fatal if ingested.
Early signs of poisoning can include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Christian McGrath is encouraging Victorians to be on the lookout for wild mushrooms growing in home gardens and publicly accessible areas, like nature strips or any area where Oak trees are planted and mulch is present.
Dr McGrath said it was important to remove any wild mushrooms growing in home gardens to avoid young children and pets coming into any contact with them.
'Adults and children should not touch wild mushrooms with their bare hands, let alone eat them, and animals should be kept well away from them,' Dr McGrath said.
'Anyone who collects and consumes wild mushrooms of unknown species is putting themselves at risk of potential poisoning and serious illness. Consuming a death cap mushroom can be fatal.'
Since there are no home tests to distinguish safe and edible mushrooms from poisonous ones, the health department's official advice is to only consume mushrooms purchased from supermarkets, greengrocers, or other reputable sources.
'Unless you are an expert, do not pick and eat wild mushrooms.' Dr McGrath said.
People should ensure they wear gloves when removing wild mushrooms from home gardens, before placing them inside a bag and then in a landfill rubbish bin.
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The Advertiser
6 hours ago
- The Advertiser
IVF system fails to pass the pub test, minister says
Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year. Australia's IVF accreditation system fails to pass the pub test, a government minister has said, as discussions continue following multiple embryo mix-ups at one of the nation's largest fertility providers. State and territory health ministers met with their federal counterpart on Friday, where it was agreed that a rapid nationwide review would begin to consider establishing an independent accreditation body. It comes after Monash IVF revealed staff had transferred the wrong embryo to a woman at a Melbourne clinic last week, following a similar blunder involving a separate Monash patient in Brisbane. Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she hoped the establishment of an independent body could occur immediately, but claimed it was met with pushback from Queensland. "We got to move quickly," she told reporters. "It's concerning ... there may well be more errors that we don't know about. And that is because the body that currently accredits fertility care providers is made up of fertility care providers. "That's why I find Queensland's position so perplexing." A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the minister had "advocated for an informed understanding" of the accreditation and regulation framework. "Health ministers decided that Queensland would lead work to understand the issues better and to ensure a strategy would be well informed," the spokesman said. The three-month review will consider whether the state regulatory schemes are fit for purpose when it comes to safety and quality. The IVF industry is primarily regulated by states and territories. Clinics must be licensed to operate by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Thomas said the main issue for her was how fertility care was accredited. "It simply doesn't pass the pub test that the people that provide the service are also the ones that determine who provides the service," she said. "We have work to do there." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who used IVF to welcome his third child, described the two recent embryo mix-ups as "frankly shocking". "As governments, we've got a responsibility to see whether there are better levels of regulation that should be put in place, and to inject some confidence back into a system that delivers such joy to so many thousands of families every year," he told ABC Radio. Monash IVF chief executive Michael Knaap resigned on Thursday after it was revealed staff at a Melbourne laboratory gave a patient one of her embryos, instead of one from her partner as intended. An investigation is under way into how it happened. The company, which has a presence across Australia, apologised to the couple, while the Victorian Health Regulator has also launched an investigation. Monash revealed in April that a woman at a Brisbane facility was incorrectly impregnated with another patient's embryo, which was blamed on "human error". The mistake was picked up after the child was born when the birth parents asked for their remaining embryos to be transferred elsewhere and an additional embryo was unexpectedly found in storage. Former Monash director Gab Kovacs, who was involved with developing earlier IVF guidelines, told AAP the mix-up was a "very rare occurrence". "However, with 100,000 cycles of IVF in Australia, even with this occurring very, very rarely, it is inevitable that this will happen," Mr Kovacs said. "It is due to human error and this cannot be eliminated. "The two incidents happened in two separate clinics, 2000km apart ... (involving) different personnel, different lab managers." About 20,000 babies conceived by IVF are born in Australia each year.
The Advertiser
11 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Die due to depression': woman's pet parrots denied entry to Australia
A pair of "beautiful" green and blue-feathered "family members" has been denied entry to Australia because they pose too great a biosecurity risk. Shadoon and Shellman's owner has spent two years wrangling with authorities to bring her pet parrots into the country which she claims will "die due to depression and dependency" in Iran without her. Despite providing identity certificates, health checks and vaccination documents - and offering to fly the Indian ringneck parrots via Qatar to New Zealand for quarantining - the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry rejected Mehri Shafiei's import application. That decision was upheld on June 12 by the Administrative Review Tribunal. While accepting Ms Shafiei had gone to great lengths to reduce risks the birds could carry avian influenza or Newcastle disease into the country, tribunal member Stewart Fenwick said the evidence was consistent "there has been a high biosecurity risk identified". "The former carries grave implications for the Australian poultry industry and the latter is highly contagious," Mr Fenwick said in his decision in Melbourne. Mr Fenwick acknowledged Ms Shafiei, an Australian permanent resident, had experienced "depression over separation from Shadoon and Shellman" and had travelled to Isfahan in Iran where they live just to spend time with them. She described the parrots, aged nine and six, as "cute feathered family members". The tribunal heard the agriculture department received between 100 and 120 import applications each year like Ms Shafiei's, which were also denied. "It is evident that a policy decision was made some time ago to prohibit the import of psittacines, and that a considerable amount of effort has been invested in considering the future of this import trade," Mr Fenwick said. "It is not reasonable to take account of the sentimental importance of the pets to Ms Shafiei." He noted the birds had clear "sentimental importance" to their "devoted" owner. "It is important to observe that Ms Shafiei presents as a sincere and loving pet owner," he said. "I fully accept that she has cared for Shadoon and Shallman and, indeed, appears to have been so concerned about them that she spent additional time in Iran to be with them during the life of this application." In his decision, Mr Fenwick noted the Psittacula krameri species was a long-lived and popular pet and "a natural mimic". Shadoon and Shellman had "beautiful green and blue plumage respectively". "Unfortunately, the steps taken - largely it seems with a view to facilitating their import to Australia - including, in particular, vaccination, have not contributed to reducing the high level of biosecurity risk arising from the importation of psittacines from Iran," Mr Fenwick said. "As noted at the outset, publicly available information from the Victorian government indicates that this exotic species is identified as a pest, as unpleasant as this reality may seem to the applicant." Australia's strict biosecurity laws attracted international attention in 2015 when then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce decided US actor Johnny Depp's dogs, Pistol and Boo, would have to be put down or deported. Ms Shafiei originally applied for a permit to import the birds on June 23, 2023. This was refused by the agriculture department in July and October of the same year. She then applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal in November to have the decision reviewed. A pair of "beautiful" green and blue-feathered "family members" has been denied entry to Australia because they pose too great a biosecurity risk. Shadoon and Shellman's owner has spent two years wrangling with authorities to bring her pet parrots into the country which she claims will "die due to depression and dependency" in Iran without her. Despite providing identity certificates, health checks and vaccination documents - and offering to fly the Indian ringneck parrots via Qatar to New Zealand for quarantining - the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry rejected Mehri Shafiei's import application. That decision was upheld on June 12 by the Administrative Review Tribunal. While accepting Ms Shafiei had gone to great lengths to reduce risks the birds could carry avian influenza or Newcastle disease into the country, tribunal member Stewart Fenwick said the evidence was consistent "there has been a high biosecurity risk identified". "The former carries grave implications for the Australian poultry industry and the latter is highly contagious," Mr Fenwick said in his decision in Melbourne. Mr Fenwick acknowledged Ms Shafiei, an Australian permanent resident, had experienced "depression over separation from Shadoon and Shellman" and had travelled to Isfahan in Iran where they live just to spend time with them. She described the parrots, aged nine and six, as "cute feathered family members". The tribunal heard the agriculture department received between 100 and 120 import applications each year like Ms Shafiei's, which were also denied. "It is evident that a policy decision was made some time ago to prohibit the import of psittacines, and that a considerable amount of effort has been invested in considering the future of this import trade," Mr Fenwick said. "It is not reasonable to take account of the sentimental importance of the pets to Ms Shafiei." He noted the birds had clear "sentimental importance" to their "devoted" owner. "It is important to observe that Ms Shafiei presents as a sincere and loving pet owner," he said. "I fully accept that she has cared for Shadoon and Shallman and, indeed, appears to have been so concerned about them that she spent additional time in Iran to be with them during the life of this application." In his decision, Mr Fenwick noted the Psittacula krameri species was a long-lived and popular pet and "a natural mimic". Shadoon and Shellman had "beautiful green and blue plumage respectively". "Unfortunately, the steps taken - largely it seems with a view to facilitating their import to Australia - including, in particular, vaccination, have not contributed to reducing the high level of biosecurity risk arising from the importation of psittacines from Iran," Mr Fenwick said. "As noted at the outset, publicly available information from the Victorian government indicates that this exotic species is identified as a pest, as unpleasant as this reality may seem to the applicant." Australia's strict biosecurity laws attracted international attention in 2015 when then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce decided US actor Johnny Depp's dogs, Pistol and Boo, would have to be put down or deported. Ms Shafiei originally applied for a permit to import the birds on June 23, 2023. This was refused by the agriculture department in July and October of the same year. She then applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal in November to have the decision reviewed. A pair of "beautiful" green and blue-feathered "family members" has been denied entry to Australia because they pose too great a biosecurity risk. Shadoon and Shellman's owner has spent two years wrangling with authorities to bring her pet parrots into the country which she claims will "die due to depression and dependency" in Iran without her. Despite providing identity certificates, health checks and vaccination documents - and offering to fly the Indian ringneck parrots via Qatar to New Zealand for quarantining - the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry rejected Mehri Shafiei's import application. That decision was upheld on June 12 by the Administrative Review Tribunal. While accepting Ms Shafiei had gone to great lengths to reduce risks the birds could carry avian influenza or Newcastle disease into the country, tribunal member Stewart Fenwick said the evidence was consistent "there has been a high biosecurity risk identified". "The former carries grave implications for the Australian poultry industry and the latter is highly contagious," Mr Fenwick said in his decision in Melbourne. Mr Fenwick acknowledged Ms Shafiei, an Australian permanent resident, had experienced "depression over separation from Shadoon and Shellman" and had travelled to Isfahan in Iran where they live just to spend time with them. She described the parrots, aged nine and six, as "cute feathered family members". The tribunal heard the agriculture department received between 100 and 120 import applications each year like Ms Shafiei's, which were also denied. "It is evident that a policy decision was made some time ago to prohibit the import of psittacines, and that a considerable amount of effort has been invested in considering the future of this import trade," Mr Fenwick said. "It is not reasonable to take account of the sentimental importance of the pets to Ms Shafiei." He noted the birds had clear "sentimental importance" to their "devoted" owner. "It is important to observe that Ms Shafiei presents as a sincere and loving pet owner," he said. "I fully accept that she has cared for Shadoon and Shallman and, indeed, appears to have been so concerned about them that she spent additional time in Iran to be with them during the life of this application." In his decision, Mr Fenwick noted the Psittacula krameri species was a long-lived and popular pet and "a natural mimic". Shadoon and Shellman had "beautiful green and blue plumage respectively". "Unfortunately, the steps taken - largely it seems with a view to facilitating their import to Australia - including, in particular, vaccination, have not contributed to reducing the high level of biosecurity risk arising from the importation of psittacines from Iran," Mr Fenwick said. "As noted at the outset, publicly available information from the Victorian government indicates that this exotic species is identified as a pest, as unpleasant as this reality may seem to the applicant." Australia's strict biosecurity laws attracted international attention in 2015 when then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce decided US actor Johnny Depp's dogs, Pistol and Boo, would have to be put down or deported. Ms Shafiei originally applied for a permit to import the birds on June 23, 2023. This was refused by the agriculture department in July and October of the same year. She then applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal in November to have the decision reviewed. A pair of "beautiful" green and blue-feathered "family members" has been denied entry to Australia because they pose too great a biosecurity risk. Shadoon and Shellman's owner has spent two years wrangling with authorities to bring her pet parrots into the country which she claims will "die due to depression and dependency" in Iran without her. Despite providing identity certificates, health checks and vaccination documents - and offering to fly the Indian ringneck parrots via Qatar to New Zealand for quarantining - the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry rejected Mehri Shafiei's import application. That decision was upheld on June 12 by the Administrative Review Tribunal. While accepting Ms Shafiei had gone to great lengths to reduce risks the birds could carry avian influenza or Newcastle disease into the country, tribunal member Stewart Fenwick said the evidence was consistent "there has been a high biosecurity risk identified". "The former carries grave implications for the Australian poultry industry and the latter is highly contagious," Mr Fenwick said in his decision in Melbourne. Mr Fenwick acknowledged Ms Shafiei, an Australian permanent resident, had experienced "depression over separation from Shadoon and Shellman" and had travelled to Isfahan in Iran where they live just to spend time with them. She described the parrots, aged nine and six, as "cute feathered family members". The tribunal heard the agriculture department received between 100 and 120 import applications each year like Ms Shafiei's, which were also denied. "It is evident that a policy decision was made some time ago to prohibit the import of psittacines, and that a considerable amount of effort has been invested in considering the future of this import trade," Mr Fenwick said. "It is not reasonable to take account of the sentimental importance of the pets to Ms Shafiei." He noted the birds had clear "sentimental importance" to their "devoted" owner. "It is important to observe that Ms Shafiei presents as a sincere and loving pet owner," he said. "I fully accept that she has cared for Shadoon and Shallman and, indeed, appears to have been so concerned about them that she spent additional time in Iran to be with them during the life of this application." In his decision, Mr Fenwick noted the Psittacula krameri species was a long-lived and popular pet and "a natural mimic". Shadoon and Shellman had "beautiful green and blue plumage respectively". "Unfortunately, the steps taken - largely it seems with a view to facilitating their import to Australia - including, in particular, vaccination, have not contributed to reducing the high level of biosecurity risk arising from the importation of psittacines from Iran," Mr Fenwick said. "As noted at the outset, publicly available information from the Victorian government indicates that this exotic species is identified as a pest, as unpleasant as this reality may seem to the applicant." Australia's strict biosecurity laws attracted international attention in 2015 when then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce decided US actor Johnny Depp's dogs, Pistol and Boo, would have to be put down or deported. Ms Shafiei originally applied for a permit to import the birds on June 23, 2023. This was refused by the agriculture department in July and October of the same year. She then applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal in November to have the decision reviewed.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
The collateral damage from Monash IVF's colossal embryo bungles
The next part of the script unusually involves activists calling for enhanced regulation or better laws. 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. Loading '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'.
