PACIFIC FERTILITY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED EMBRYOS
Pacific Fertility Center is located in San Francisco’s North Beach region. Currently,Pacific Fertility Center offers the following reproductive services: Ovulation Induction, Intrauterine Insemination, Tubal Sterilization Reversal, In Vitro Fertilization (“IVF”), Fertility Preservation, Sperm Banking, and Egg Freezing. According to a headline on Pacific Fertility Center’s website, their lab “maintains a gold standard.”
This was not the case for more than 400 families in San Francisco, CA whose eggs and embryos were compromised as a result of a freezer malfunction. Pacific Fertility Center promised to safeguard and protect these frozen embryos and eggs, vouching to provide “best quality, individualized, compassionate fertility care.” Families chose Pacific Fertility Center for an opportunity to raise their own children. Despite Pacific Fertility Center’s agreement to maintain this position of extreme trust and fidelity, they Recklessly or Negligently Compromised Thousands of Embryos. To make matters worse for these families, each round of IVF treatments can cost more than $10,000.
According to the Pacific Fertility Center’s website, “PFC’s clinical laboratory director, Dr. Joseph Conaghan … and his team of extensively trained, certified embryologists are devoted to leading this field in research and new technology.” Unfortunately, the same level of devotion was not applied to the preservation of eggs and embryos at their facility.
Pacific Fertility Center promised to safeguard and protect these frozen eggs and embryos. However, over 1000 eggs and embryos have been compromised.
Over 400 families are left wondering how and why this happened. We aim to uncover the truth and provide these answers to the families left devastated by this event. They deserve to know the truth, and they deserve to be compensated. Although there is nothing that can replace these lost eggs and embryos, we can fight to hold Pacific Fertility Center accountable so something like this never happens again.
PACIFIC FERTILITY CENTER PATIENTS’ NIGHTMARE
Thousands of frozen eggs and embryos that were stored at Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco may no longer be viable, jeopardizing eggs and embryos hundreds of women had stored in hopes of having children. Recently, liquid nitrogen levels in one of its freezers dropped significantly, causing temperatures in the storage tank to fluctuate to dangerously high levels. While the extent of this tragedy is still unclear, Pacific Fertility Center informed more than 400 patients that their frozen eggs and embryos may have been damaged.
Pacific Fertility Center claims that it does not know how or why the liquid nitrogen levels dropped, and it is still unclear whether the problem was caused by human error or mechanical failure.
The potential damage to hundreds or thousands of eggs and embryos is both a devastating financial and emotional catastrophe. The process of removing, freezing, and storing eggs and embryos is a trying ordeal and can cost more than $10,000 per procedure. Additionally, these families are paying hundreds of dollars each year to store their frozen eggs and embryos. Even more devastating, for some families, this is their only chance at having children.
Officials and doctors at Pacific Fertility Center said the latest problem was discovered by the laboratory director, who eventually noticed that the level of liquid nitrogen in one of the clinic’s steel storage tanks had fallen too low. The high temperature creates a high risk of damage in vials called cryolocks. Each vial can contain as many as three eggs; embryos — fertilized eggs — are stored individually.
Pacific Fertility Center declined to say exactly how many eggs and embryos had been affected, but said storage tank No. 4 contained “several thousand” eggs and embryos. Alden Romney, Pacific’s spokesman, said that this tank represents as much as 15 percent of the total number of eggs and embryos stored at the facility.
Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane attorney Adam Wolf said: “Keep in mind that these families have entrusted their most valuable property in the entire world – their frozen embryos – to Pacific Fertility Clinic. We want to make sure that this devastating tragedy never happens again.
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