It is well known in the world of fertility that CooperSurgical, which is part of Cooper Companies Inc., makes IVF (in vitro fertilization) products and offers services related to just that. But they are in a lot of legal trouble right now because of a bad IVF product that has caused a lot of stress for patients. And now we know it as the famous Cooper Surgical Lawsuit, and today, we are here to explain every allegation, claim, and legal side of things in the simplest words possible. Here we go.
What’s the Deal with IVF and CooperSurgical?
Fertilizing an egg outside of the body and then putting it into the uterus is what IVF does to help couples get pregnant, you know? The IVF media solution is an important part of this process because it helps the embryo grow in its early stages. CooperSurgical, a big company that makes these solutions, got into trouble when one of their products wasn’t said to work.
Their IVF media treatment was meant to help the embryo grow. But it was said to have missed an important nutrient, which caused embryos to die or grow incorrectly. Many couples who were counting on IVF treatments to work filed cases because of this.
How And Why Did This Cooper Surgical Lawsuit Even Start?
An American couple filed the first lawsuit against CooperSurgical in Los Angeles County in the middle of December last year. It was said that the bad media treatment caused the loss of 34 fertilized eggs. Even though they used an egg donor to make these eggs after four failed IVF tries, none of them turned into viable embryos. This confused their infertility doctor. A lot of claims like this one started after this one.
Since then, more patients have reported the same issue with the IVF media solution. These cases show how widespread the issue is, it affects clinics in many states and even other countries.
Digging Deeper Into The Investigation
An embryologist named Mitchel C. Schiewe thought that about 20,000 patients could have been harmed if about half of the compromised media was used. Though the flawed drug was sent to 33 states and 24 countries, it’s not clear how many patients were affected.
The lab head at the California couple’s fertility clinic did more research and found that other clinics were also seeing the same kind of mysterious embryo losses. This pointed to CooperSurgical’s media as the common thread, giving important proof linking the product to the many failures.
How Did CooperSurgical and the FDA Respond?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stepped in, recalling about 1,000 bottles of the faulty solution and advising healthcare workers not to use it because it could harm embryo development.
CooperSurgical reacted by recalling the bad product and letting doctors know about the problem. Even with all of these attempts, the company’s reputation got worse. In a news release in February, CooperSurgical said that its first-quarter sales were $310 million, 12% higher than the same time last year. This shows that the company is still doing well financially despite the controversy.
