An Orange County fertility clinic by chance destroyed embryos after they got here into contact with hydrogen peroxide while an worker was cleansing an incubator, in line with two lawsuits filed Thursday, April 18, by two couples.
The couples, who didn’t conceive after implanting the embryos in late January, are accusing FPG Labs, LLC – doing business as Ovation Fertility – of negligent representation, negligence, fraud, intentional misrepresentation and five other claims. The plaintiffs are identified within the lawsuits only by their initials. No damages amounts were mentioned.
Ovation Fertility operates 14 laboratories in 10 states, including one in Newport Beach where an worker “erroneously used hydrogen peroxide instead of a sterile solution in an incubator,” Adam Wolf, the couple's attorney, said in a news conference Thursday, calling the situation an “avoidable tragedy.” “.
The lawsuits allege that Ovation Fertility knew it had hired employees who were unsuitable, improperly trained, or unable to watch or use the embryo incubator.
The lawsuits say the couples “may no longer be able to have biologically related children due to defendants' conduct.”
In one lawsuit, a lady underwent two egg retrievals in October and November 2016, while within the second lawsuit, the lady underwent egg retrieval in April 2023, the lawsuits say.
Ovation Fertility didn’t reply to a request for comment. It was not known Thursday whether an attorney represented the clinic.
Of the 20 network labs listed on Ovation's website, the Newport Beach clinic is the just one in California.
The clinic describes itself as one in all the five largest in vitro fertilization providers within the United States and says it operates a “first-class laboratory” that uses “best practices” and operates to the “highest standards,” in line with plaintiffs' lawyers The allegations made within the lawsuits are false.
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