Disaster at Cleveland Hospital – May Have Damaged more than 2,000 Embryos and Eggs
Currently at the Cleveland University Hospital Fertility Center, a liquid nitrogen tank began to thaw containing more than 2,000 eggs and embryos. This center is responsible for thousands of births for families with little to no chance of having kids on their own. “It’s devastating, it’s absolutely devastating,” stated Patti DePompei, President of University Hospital MacDonald Women’s Hospital and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
Employees are stating that they do not know the reasons yet for this mishap, just that one of the tanks just started to heat up randomly. The temperature increase of the tank could have caused damage to the 2,000 eggs and embryos inside that belonged to over 500 patients. The tanks are equipped with multiple sensors that are supposed to alarm when the tank starts to heat up, but the hospital is unsure whether the mishap was a mechanical or human failure.
“Some of the eggs and embryos that were stored date back decades and people move, their addresses change, but we’ve made our best attempts to track down everyone that we can,” DePompei said. There is a call center available to answer questions and set up appointments. The number is 216-286-9740.
What we don’t know:
- How the thaw happened.
- How many eggs and embryos were affected due to the thaw and are no longer viable, because they cannot be refrozen.
- The cost to fix it. Procedure fees may affect patients for future treatments.
- The financial impact on patients, fertility cost $10,000
It is a shame for anything like this to happen, and for anyone to ever have to go through this. If you have been affected call me, I will be there for you and I’ll Make Them Pay!®
Author: Tim Misny | For over four decades, personal injury lawyer Tim Misny has represented the injured victim in in birth injury, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury/wrongful death cases, serving Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Columbus, Dayton and neighboring communities. You can reach Tim by email at misnylaw.com/ask-tim-a-question/ or call at 877.944.4373.