Largest Settlements OKd in Fertility Scandal

The biggest settlements to date arising from the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal were approved this week, when University of California regents reached agreement with five couples victimized by doctors treating the wives for infertility.

Two of the couples received settlements of $695,000 and $654,000 each, the largest sums awarded in the 72 civil lawsuits settled so far. The other three settlements also finalized Monday were for $5,450, $55,000 and $260,000.

Seven of the lawsuits filed against the clinic have been settled for $500,000 or more. Overall, the settlements have totaled more than $14 million, and about 20 cases remain unresolved. Each of the agreements has been approved by Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas.

The lawsuits resulted from allegations by former patients who said three UCI doctors, Ricardo H. Asch, Jose Balmaceda and Sergio C. Stone, stole or misused their eggs while they were being treated for infertility.

The three physicians involved in the scandal, which generated international headlines, were charged with mail fraud and tax evasion. Asch and Balmaceda fled the country, while Stone was found guilty last week of nine counts of mail fraud and acquitted of 14 other charges.

In the lawsuits, both sides are using a formula that determines the amount and severity of the damages by ranking the plaintiff’s grievance or injury. Women who never conceived a baby but whose eggs were unknowingly implanted in other women who later bore children are offered the biggest settlements.

Lawsuits also were filed against the clinic by women who bore children, but whose eggs were given without their permission to other women who also had babies. Other victims included women whose eggs were used to impregnate other patients, who in turn received eggs from several donors, putting the genetic history of some babies in doubt.