Fighting fertility negligence: Clarkson files suit against CooperSurgical for deficient embryo culture media.
The desire for a family is as old as human existence. Yet by the time we are emotionally and financially ready to have children, our ability to conceive is often limited or impossible. An increasing number of families now turn to fertility specialists for help. In fact, over two percent of all births in the U.S. are conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
Thanks to ART and IVF, dreams of a family have come true for many parents. But there is a dark side to this largely unregulated $8 billion industry. Putting profits over people, some fertility clinics radically increase their volume of services without implementing appropriate quality controls. Embryology technicians are overworked, undertrained, and poorly supervised, resulting in errors that quite literally change the course of patients' lives.
Clarkson's Fertility Negligence practice aims to help families recover from the trauma of fertility negligence and mistakes made during the IVF process. We prioritize our clients’ confidentiality while holding companies financially accountable for their misconduct, leading to long-term institutional change that promotes safety and transparency within the fertility industry.
The truth about reproductive negligence.
Reproductive negligence can have devastating consequences, often ruining the possibility of biological parenthood, creating unintended blood and custody ties, or turning women into unwitting surrogates for strangers' children. Shockingly, errors in the fertility industry are widespread. The most comprehensive study of U.S. fertility clinics found that more than one in five report errors in diagnosing, labeling, and handling donor samples and embryos.
Most fertility clients are not aware of the true risks and do not insure against errors. Plus, the stigma associated with infertility keeps most of these mistakes in the shadows, and very few cases are litigated at all. Victims of fertility negligence are left to take whatever their clinic offers, which is often nothing. By the time clients come to Clarkson, they are often emotionally and physically wounded and left with a significant financial burden.
Clarkson’s Fertility Negligence team has worked on some of the most important cases in this practice area, many of which were resolved confidentially prior to litigation. We have the resources and knowledge to take on clinics who have failed their clients and to fight for the maximum compensation that our clients deserve. Lead attorney Tracey Cowan has nearly a decade of experience negotiating, litigating, and resolving fertility negligence disputes with IVF clinics and associated defendants. She provides her clients with an intricate understanding of the IVF process and legal safeguards, as well as the sensitivity and support they need during a time of upheaval and uncertainty.
The people we represent share their experiences because they understand the impact it can have—not just on their own lives, but on the lives of countless others. Our clients take valuable time out of their days to provide testimony, give depositions, and work with our team—all for a purpose far bigger than any one individual.