Eastern Iowa couples sue company, say defective materials ruined IVF process

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Two Iowa couples are among those suing a company that makes medical devices. The couples claim defective products ruined their efforts to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF).

One of the couples lives in Cedar Rapids; the other, in Stanwood.

They’re suing CooperSurgical over defective culture media. That’s the liquid that goes in the petri dish where a woman’s egg is fertilized to create embryos. The liquid essentially mimics the environment inside the womb. The lawsuits claim CooperSurgical failed to make sure all the right nutrients were in this liquid before it was packaged and sold to clinics across the country.

“We do know that there are at least hundreds, if not thousands, of families across the country who have been impacted by this and had not only their financial situation wiped out, but also their hopes and dreams of parenthood,” said Tracey Cowan, the lead attorney in the lawsuits against CooperSurgical.

According to Cowan, the woman in one Iowa couple is 35 years old and has some fertility complications due to a past ectopic pregnancy. Cowan said that’s why the couple wanted to do IVF, to make the process as safe as possible. This couple had 33 embryos that were affected.

The other couple involved a woman who is 26 years old and has PCOS. This couple had 20 embryos.

Cowan declined to name the clinics these women visited, saying they should have been able to trust that the products they were getting were safe. She said, in many cases, she considered the clinics to also be victims.

She encouraged people to reach out to their clinics if they had unexplained problems.

CooperSurgical has released this statement to a number of outlets:

“While we cannot address ongoing litigation, quality and compliance are fundamental parts of the value we provide to our customers and are our core focus. In accordance with the requirements of our quality management system, a media recall was initiated to proactively address any possible issue with our products while we continue to investigate.”

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