Settlements Reached in 3 Fertility Suits

Three more civil lawsuits stemming from the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal have been settled for a total of $985,000.

The latest agreements bring the number of settled cases to 67, totaling more than $12.5 million. All have been approved by Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas.

The cases, filed by former patients, grew out of allegations that three UCI doctors, Ricardo H. Asch, Jose Balmaceda and Sergio C. Stone, stole or misused eggs from women being treated for infertility. The fertilized eggs allegedly were either implanted in other women or sent to research labs without the patients’ consent.

About two dozen more cases remain unsettled.

The latest three cases were settled for $520,000, $450,000 and $15,000.

So far, seven of the settlements have been for $500,000 or more, with the largest amount, $650,000, awarded to a couple whose eggs were implanted in another woman, who gave birth to twins. In that case, the donor couple and the twins’ family live in the same town.

Under the settlement formula that has been used in the cases, the amount awarded is determined by a ranking of the plaintiffs’ injury or grievance. The highest ranking is given to a woman who never conceived a baby but whose eggs were implanted in another woman who later bore a child. The second-highest category involves a woman whose eggs were given to another, but both she and the recipient had babies.

Other categories involve women whose eggs were used to impregnate a patient who received eggs from several donors, blurring the baby’s genetic history.

The lowest priorities involve women whose eggs were given to a recipient who either did not conceive or who miscarried. There also are categories for patients whose eggs could not be accounted for or were used improperly for research.

Several plaintiffs settled for a waiver of court costs when their grievances were determined to be unfounded.

The three physicians involved were charged with mail fraud and tax evasion. Asch and Balmaceda have left the country. Stone was found guilty last week of nine counts of mail fraud and was acquitted of 14 other charges.