Lawsuit: Toxic oil from O.C.-based company killed L.A. couple’s embryos
Oil from an Orange Countybased company used by in vitro fertilization clinics around the world was “toxic” and killed some patients’ embryos, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by a Los Angeles couple.
The lawsuit against Fujifilm Irvine Scientific — a Santa Anabased medical company owned by a Tokyo-based conglomerate — follows the recall of chemicals that were supposed to protect embryos but instead killed them, attorneys for the couple said during a news conference on Thursday morning.
“It wasn’t just the embryos of this one couple,” said Adam Wolf, a fertility attorney who is representing the couple and other potential plaintiffs. “In fact the oil from Fujifilm Irvine Scientific killed the embryos of an enormous number of people…
“It’s outrageous that Fujifilms Irvine Scientific hasn’t been more transparent about the scale of this disaster and unforgivable that it hasn’t made the recall notice publicly available to fertility patients given that the company is a top global supplier of oil used in IVF embryo cultures,” the attorney added.
A voluntary recall notice the attorney said was sent to embryo clinics in January — which was posted on his law firm’s website — cites “oil toxicity” found in three “lots” of the oil that came from the same raw material. A fourth lot that came from the same raw material was also recalled, according to the notice, though it did not show any indication of toxicity.
The recall notice cites “potential deficiencies” from the recalled lots that “may result in impairment of embryo development.”
The impacted lots “met all final product release specifications” before being distributed, according to the notice.
The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to properly test the oil before distributing it to clinics.
In a statement responding to the allegations, Fujifilm Irvine Scientific wrote that they received “a small number of complaints from a limited number of customers” suggesting that the oil “did not perform as intended.”
“Upon initial receipt of the complaints, we promptly initiated a comprehensive investigation,” the company statement read. “We performed sensitive bioassay testing and detected oil toxicity in three of four lots made with the same raw material. In addition, we tested the lot retention samples and individual raw material containers to try to understand the potential source of the issue.”
The company added that “while the natural variability of embryo development can be a substantial obstacle to successful fertility treatments, many factors may influence the success of IVF procedures.” They described the recall as being undertaken “out of an abundance of caution.”