UC Wants to Suspend Its Suit Against Doctors : Courts: University officials say their action is stalled because vital records are sealed as part of criminal investigation of fertility clinic.

University of California officials asked a judge Monday to suspend their lawsuit against three doctors in the UCI fertility clinic scandal, saying it is impossible to pursue as long as criminal investigators hold essential records.

A university attorney said the request was made to save court time and university money. The suspension would last six months, until the federal investigation of the doctors’ practice concludes.

The lawsuit, filed last May in Orange County Superior Court, attacked the university’s own faculty members, accusing them of misappropriating human eggs and embryos, pocketing money owed to the university and conducting research on human subjects without permission.

The doctors, Ricardo H. Asch, Jose P. Balmaceda and Sergio C. Stone, also were accused of stonewalling the university’s efforts to obtain key records in the case, and the suit sought to recover those documents. The doctors denied any intentional wrongdoing.

The move to suspend the suit, which was endorsed by the doctors’ attorneys, caused suspicion among attorneys for patients who have taken their own legal action against the university and the three physicians.

“I think there’s something else behind” the postponement request, said Melanie Blum, an Orange attorney who represents 14 couples who allege their eggs and embryos were misappropriated.

“They’re not interested in disclosing a lot of information. . . . The information that would be uncovered would be advantageous to the plaintiffs in our lawsuits.”

Santa Monica attorney Larry Feldman, who represents seven other couples, said the legal maneuver could signal a rapprochement of sorts between the university and the doctors.

“It gives the university and the doctors a chance to line up against the victims,” Feldman said. “They may be in a place where they want to cooperate to diminish the victims’ chances of prevailing.”

University officials say their hands have been tied since last September, when a task force led by the U.S. attorney’s office seized critical records from the homes and offices of the doctors. The university does not have access to that evidence as long as it is part of an ongoing criminal investigation, said James Holst, general counsel for the University of California.

Holst said that if the university becomes aware of any documents that are not in the hands of federal authorities, it can reactivate the lawsuit and ask the court to help obtain those records. The suspension does not mean the university is dropping or waiving any of its claims against the doctors, he said.

“We’re not giving up,” Holst said. “We’re not foreclosing any options. . . . We just didn’t think the court’s time should be taken up with this action when it isn’t during this period going to be productive.”

Holst said the university’s action should have no effect on patients’ efforts to get the records.

University officials said in a press release that they will continue trying to contact patients who may have been victimized, based on records obtained earlier this year from a former clinic embryologist. As of last week, more than 110 patients had been sent letters notifying them that they may have been affected.

Holst said the university has spent less than $50,000 so far on its lawsuit against the doctors. But “any extra $10,000 is something to be avoided,” he said.

Karen Taillon, who represents Stone, said the suspension was negotiated over several months. Any suggestion that it is intended to keep information from patients who are suing is “absolutely unfounded,” she said.

“There is no conspiracy to hide anything,” Taillon said.

Balmaceda’s attorney, Patrick Moore, declined to comment. Asch’s attorneys could not be reached.