By James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer

Posted on March 17, 2018 on Cleveland.com

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The dozen lawsuits filed the past week against University Hospital’s fertility clinic paint a trail of tears, pain and heartache suffered by couples in their quest for conception, but none more than that experienced by one West Side couple.

For Gina and George Latcheran, the March 3-4 incident at the clinic that caused as many as 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos to thaw and potentially be destroyed marked the second time their attempts at in vitro fertilization had been thwarted at the hospital.

Two years ago, after a doctor harvested a dozen eggs from Gina, they were fertilized and placed in an incubator to develop for three to five days before being implanted.

But on March 16, 2016, the couple’s doctor notified them of an “incubator malfunction” that destroyed at least nine of the 12 embryos. An attempt to implant one of the three remaining embryos failed. None were viable.

“The Latcherans were devastated,” according to a lawsuit the couple filed on Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

UH released a statement on Friday.

“In March of 2016, one of our incubators lost power,” the statement read. “Approximately five patients were affected, and we worked with each of them to find the best solution possible to help them move forward.”

Undeterred, Gina returned to UH for a second round of in vitro fertilization procedures. In the summer of 2016 her doctor harvested more eggs, and 10 embryos were successfully fertilized. Two were implanted in her, and she later gave birth to twin daughters.

The remaining eight embryos were frozen with hopes that a second implantation could be attempted later this summer. But that plan was dashed with the March 3-4 incident at the fertilization clinic. All of embryos were destroyed, according to the lawsuit.

“The expense of harvesting and freezing the embryos is exorbitant, and the physical toll for harvest and transfer is enormous,” the Latcherans said in the lawsuit, which accuses UH of negligence and breach of contract, and seeks class action status.

UH CEO Thomas F. Zenty III said in a letter to the Latcherans that he would launch an independent investigation to determine the cause of the incident at the Ahuja Medical Center Fertility Clinic, which impacted about 700 people.

UH addressed the Latcherans’ double loss in the statement Friday, but not by name.

“It’s our policy not to comment on pending litigation, including this most recent case, but we feel it is important to note that the event in 2016 is not in any way related to the storage tank incident we now are investigating,” the statement read. “We remain committed first and foremost to do what is best for our patients.”