Wilkening Gives Testimony at Fertility Clinic Hearing

Attorneys for the key doctor in the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal said they were unable Wednesday to learn from Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening whether she believed doctors intentionally transferred eggs from women without their consent and implanted them in others, some of whom later gave birth.

Wilkening testified Wednesday in a closed-door deposition hearing connected to more than 40 civil lawsuits stemming from the human egg-swapping scandal. The issue of intent bears upon whether the University of California will be compelled to pay legal costs, which may reach several million dollars, for former fertility clinic doctor Ricardo H. Asch.

If forced to absorb costs for Asch’s legal defense, UC officials would be a step closer to being linked to the physician’s alleged misdeeds, lawyers said. UCI then could potentially be exposed to paying millions of dollars in damages stemming from the lawsuits.

UC officials are refusing to pay for Asch’s defense because they say he acted outside the scope of his employment. Also, UC attorneys argue that alleged fraud by the doctors and their refusal to turn over patients’ records are grounds not to defend them.

Asch and his physician partners, Jose P. Balmaceda and Sergio Stone, have been accused of insurance fraud, financial wrongdoing and research misconduct. All three have denied deliberate malfeasance. Asch and Balmaceda have left the country, while Stone continues to live in Orange County.