Two couples have filed lawsuits against in vitro fertilization provider Ovation Fertility, alleging its clinic destroyed their embryos when a lab worker improperly used hydrogen peroxide instead of a sterile solution in an incubator.
The couples claim the clinic continued to use the embryos even though it knew they were not viable. Neither woman became pregnant.
In two nearly identical lawsuits filed Thursday against Ovation Fertility in Newport Beach, California, two unnamed couples assert multiple claims, including negligent misrepresentation, fraud, negligence and medical battery. The couples do not reveal their names in the lawsuits to protect their privacy, according to the lawsuits.
In two nearly identical lawsuits filed Thursday, two anonymous couples accuse Ovation Fertility in Newport Beach, Calif., of negligent fraud, negligence and medical battery. The couples do not reveal their names in the lawsuits to protect their privacy, according to the lawsuits.
Embryos belonging to dozens of patients were destroyed by hydrogen peroxide in the second half of January 2024, the couples’ lawyer, Adam Wolf, said at a news conference Thursday.
The clinic didn’t realize there was a problem with the embryos until it saw low implantation success rates in January and investigated why, Wolf told ABC News. Wolf said Ovation Fertility then contacted at least some of the affected patients.
Ovation Fertility did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment regarding the lawsuits.
Egg fertilization in the laboratory In IVF treatment.
STOCK PHOTO/Adobe Stock
The couples claim they may not be able to have children biologically related to them – as they claim they no longer have viable embryos – because of Ovation Fertility’s actions.
In the lawsuits, the couples claim the hydrogen peroxide killed their embryos before they were transferred and there was no chance they would get pregnant.
The lawsuits, filed in California Superior Court, seek jury trials and seek an unspecified amount of damages.
The couples allege that the clinic put an extremely dangerous amount of hydrogen peroxide into an incubator used to store embryos and failed to have proper procedures and protocols in place to ensure the toxic incubator would not harm their embryos, despite clinic claims to the contrary. .
“Hydrogen peroxide can be found in a fertility clinic’s lab; there’s nothing wrong with that,” Wolf said. “What was absolutely wrong was the levels and concentration of hydrogen peroxide used in this incubator, which apparently had mixed hydrogen peroxide and a sterile solution,” Wolf said at the conference. press.
“This was an error that had enormous implications for dozens of patients,” Wolf said. “It killed their embryos. In some states, they are human beings.”
Petri dish with drops of material and micromanipulators on it in a laboratory for in vitro fertilization.
STOCK PHOTO/Adobe Stock
They also allege the clinic failed to properly train its employees on how to operate, manage or maintain the embryo incubator.
The couples also claim they were told their embryos were viable and unharmed at the time of transfer, even though they apparently knew this was not true.
One couple said they had only one genetically normal embryo and it was destroyed in the incubator.
The other couple said they had two separate egg retrievals and had two high-quality embryos that were destroyed in the toxic incubator.
ABC News
