AUSTIN (KXAN) – After the failure of a storage tank at an Ohio fertility clinic this month, some fertility labs in Austin are adjusting their protocols.
The University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which manages the fertility lab, said about 4,000 embryos and eggs are lost, affecting roughly 950 patients. Alarms on the storage tank failed to alert staff to a rise in temperature, which destroyed the embryos.
The clinic also said lab workers were manually filling the tank with liquid nitrogen to keep the material inside cold. The automatic refill function on the tank was not working properly, the hospital said in a letter to patients.
An investigation into the failure is underway and the hospital is facing a class-action lawsuit. The debacle has caused some fertility clinics in Austin to review their procedures.
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