Sauder Schelkopf represents individuals who suffered catastrophic loss of fertilized eggs and embryos when the Pacific Fertility Center’s storage tank malfunction at its San Francisco fertility clinic. This incident occurred on the same weekend as a similar failure occurred in a Cleveland, Ohio fertility clinic. Generally, fertility clinics suffer from a lack of government oversight and regulation. In the Cleveland case, workers at the facility were aware that there were problems with the tank sometime between August and November 2017 and worked with the tank manufacturer in an effort to troubleshoot it before the tank completely malfunctioned in March 2018.
In 1982 when the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic opened in the United States, a new era of assisted reproductive technology emerged. Since 1987, more than one million babies have been born in the US with assisted reproductive technology.
In 1988, Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, requiring all labs that perform tests on humans to be accredited and to adhere to quality standards. But embryology labs were excluded and, thus, fertility clinics can choose to be accredited or not. (Most do; according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, of the 464 surveyed for its 2015 report, 92 percent were accredited.) While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates regulates the drugs and medical devices used in assisted reproductive technology, it does not control how clinics maintain storage tanks because they don’t fall under the FDA’s jurisdiction since they are not marketed to patients.
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If you or a loved one has suffered catastrophic loss of frozen embryos, eggs or cord blood due to the negligence of a fertility center or medical center, contact the lawyers at Sauder Schelkopf by filling out the form on this page.
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Sauder Schelkopf has a nationally recognized litigation practice. The firm currently serves as court-appointed lead counsel in courts across the country. The attorneys at Sauder Schelkopf have recovered over $1 billion on behalf of their clients and class members. Our firm was recognized by the Legal Intelligencer’s 2022 Professional Excellence Awards. The Legal Intelligencer’s Professional Excellence Awards honor Pennsylvania law firms and attorneys who have made a significant, positive impact on the legal profession. Our firm was named in the Litigation Departments of the Year (Specialty Area category; runner-up), an award that honors the best litigation practice in a small or mid-sized firm in Pennsylvania. This recognition was based on the firm’s 2021 litigation work and its important ongoing cases. LawDragon has recognized our attorneys in its list of the “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2022. This list notes: “From the opioid epidemic to toxic substances and defective products, truck accidents to wildfires and sexual abuse, these are the lawyers who stand on the front line in individual lawsuits and class actions seeking justice.” Mr. Schelkopf was named to Pennsylvania’s Best Lawyers® 2022 for Class Actions/Mass Tort Litigation. The American Lawyer named Mr. Sauder to its 2021 Northeast Trailblazers. The honor recognizes 60 lawyers who are “truly agents of change.” It “recognizes professionals in the Northeast who have moved the needle in the legal industry.” The Legal Intelligencer named Mr. Sauder and Mr. Schelkopf in its 2020 Pennsylvania Trailblazers list recognizing 31 lawyers who “have taken extra measures to contribute to positive outcomes . . . and who are truly agents of change.” The Legal highlighted the firm’s innovative work on advocacy as class counsel in large institutional sex abuse cover-ups, women’s, and children’s rights. Our attorneys have also consistently been recognized by their peers being named to Pennsylvania SuperLawyer, a distinction held by the top 5% of attorneys in Pennsylvania. The National Trial Lawyers Association has also selected our attorneys as the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania.