Another couple sues Newport Beach fertility clinic over embryos destroyed in ‘toxic incubator’

One more couple came forward in a lawsuit filed last month alleging a Newport Beach fertility clinic of negligence and fraud after an apparent laboratory error resulted in the destruction of their fertilized embryo.

The couple, identified only by the initials R.N. and E.K in a new lawsuit filed Aug. 6, are at least the 12th to make such claims against Ovation Fertility since April. They say their embryos were killed after hydrogen peroxide instead of a sterile solution was used to clean the incubator their fertilized eggs were stored in.

Representatives for Ovation could not immediately be reached for comment. The Tennessee-based company was founded in 2015 and runs 22 facilities across the country.

Attorneys representing the latest couple to sue the company say R.N. underwent hormone therapy, frequent testing and paid thousands of dollars with E.K. for Ovation’s services. After one previous unsuccessful attempt to conceive a boy, their final, supposedly viable, male embryo was transferred last May. But that procedure also failed.

“The Plaintiffs worried — and continue to worry to this day — that their shared dream of having a son might never become a reality,” attorneys for R.N. and E.K. wrote in the suit.

The lawsuit claims that second male embryo had already been killed in a “toxic incubator” and that Ovation should have known but failed to inform the plaintiffs. It also alleges the clinic failed to adequately follow safety measures and also called promotional material claiming the company runs a “premier laboratory” with “the highest standards” false.

In a statement issued in April, representatives for Ovation said they have protocols in place “to protect the health and integrity of every embryo under our care.” They also described the destruction of embryos at their Newport Beach site an “isolated incident that impacted a very small number of patients.”

Lawyers for others who have sued Ovation have suggested that systemic issues are present at their Newport Beach location and that other people who have not yet come forward may have also been affected.