A jury awarded around $15 million to five victims who lost their eggs or embryos in a storage malfunction at Pacific Fertility Center on March 4, 2018.
What We Know:
- A failure in a cryogenic storage tank destroyed 3,500 eggs and embryos at the Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco. The case is the first of its kind to award damages to individuals who lost the chance to have biological children. Three of the victims were women who lost eggs and the other two were a married couple whose embryos were compromised.
- Both the clinic and Chart Industries Inc, the company that manufactured the storage tank, were cited in the lawsuit. A manufacturing defect in the controller arm that read the levels of liquid nitrogen in the tank was at fault. Chart Industries was aware of this defect after the tank was sold but did not recall the equipment.
- The jury ruled that Chart Industries was 90% responsible and negligent. The remaining 10% of fault was placed on Pacific Fertility Center. Damages awarded were to cover the pain, suffering, and emotional distress the victims suffered as well as the cost of the genetic material.
- Victims described the emotional turmoil during the trial. Chloe Poynton, 39, testified, “It’s really painful to be at a baby shower celebrating someone else’s family being built and knowing inside you’ll never get that.”
- A similar failure on the same day occurred in a Cleveland suburb and ruined over 4,000 eggs and embryos. Following both of these catastrophic events, clinics around the nation meticulously reviewed their procedures in hopes of preventing the same result. Other lawsuits have been filed in hopes of receiving compensation for the tragedies.
Adam Wolf, an attorney who specializes in cases like this concerning genetic material, applauded the decision. “These families have suffered an unspeakable loss and still struggle every day with the tragedy that took place more than 3 years ago at Pacific Fertility Clinic,” he said.
