Second egg freezing firm admits it used suspect batch

THE company behind the ‘faulty egg freezing’ fiasco could be sued as lawyers reveal they have been inundated by calls from worried women.

Guy’s Hospital in London apologised on Tuesday for an almost year-long delay in contacting 136 patients possibly affected at its assisted conception unit after it was told of a manufacturing flaw.

Yesterday, a second UK fertility centre admitted it had used egg and embryo freezing solution from a suspect batch recalled by the manufacturer. Jessop Fertility, based at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, stated only a small proportion of the recalled vials are believed to have been unsafe and those it used in the treatment of 29 women appeared viable.

It said 28 had successfully thawed eggs and the other woman’s situation meant she would not need to.

Catherine Slattery, group action medical negligence solicitor at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘This is a very worrying incident which could potentially have devastating consequences for women, especially those who have had to go through the physical and psychological impact of cancer treatment.

‘We’ve been contacted by a number of women possibly affected and are looking into their concerns further.’

Guy’s found out about the liquid error last March but it contacted the 136 patients, whose chances of having children may have been compromised, only this month.

US firm Cooper Surgical issued an urgent safety notice last February about its freezing solution, saying one ‘lot’ of the product ‘may contain mislabelled vials that may impact the viability’ of eggs or embryos.

The Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, published a safety notice that month and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority also issued an alert.

HFEA’s Rachel Cutting said: ‘Our investigation only relates to Guy’s as we are satisfied Jessop’s undertook a thorough investigation when they first became aware of the issue.’

Cooper Surgical, being sued in the US by patients who claim to have been affected by another allegedly faulty product, was asked to comment.

‘This is a very worrying incident’