SHADOW SHUTTLE, Pa. —
Patients at UPMC Magee-Women's Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology were notified — some just days before important IVF procedures and needed medication cycles were set to begin — that the center would be temporarily closing.
Now, some of those families are wondering what happens next.
Pittsburgh's Action News 4 spoke with an attorney Tuesday, who said one of those next steps could be legal action.
"The mishandling of embryos has always been brought to court. They’re always going to be responsible for the economic damages of the client; they are going to be liable for that if they are negligent," Ismail Yousef, a partner at Romanow Law Group said.
Yousef said that because of possible damages, patients who have been affected by this closure can take legal action to find the center liable.
"Anything from the cost of medication, to the cost of a hotel stay for somebody traveling out of state, to paid time off that this person was supposed to take or took so that they could perform this procedure that they now cannot realize the benefit of," Yousef said.
In a statement Monday, a UPMC spokesperson said:
"UPMC is pausing IVF lab services so that we can perform essential building maintenance, which may last approximately two weeks. We understand this could alter a patient’s IVF treatment and schedule, where protocols and procedures are dependent on timing. We are contacting the patients who are impacted to reschedule, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
"They can close a day. If that closure is performed under circumstances that constitute medical or professional negligence and somebody’s harmed financially, economically or loses the embryos, loses the pre-embryos, the liability still stands. Plain, vanilla medical negligence. Here in Pennsylvania, there is clear case law that says if an IVF clinic mishandles embryos, or pre-embryos, that it is medical negligence, " Yousef said.
And the other issue, he said, lies with patients now having to arrange for their own continued care.
"So, when a clinic closes, it just spells bad news. Especially if the clinic did not arrange for continuity of care," Yousef said.
In the statement, UPMC also said it is contacting those impacted to reschedule.