13th Lawsuit Filed Against UC Irvine in Fertility Scandal
SANTA ANA — Another couple has filed a lawsuit in the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal, contending that their eggs or embryos were stolen and either used for lucrative research or for implantation into another patient.
The lawsuit filed by Steve and Stacy Swanson-Schofro in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday brings the number of lawsuits targeting UC Irvine and its once-prized fertility specialists to 13.
The three doctors at the center of the scandal, Ricardo H. Asch, Jose P. Balmeceda and Sergio C. Stone, have been accused by the University of California of misappropriating the eggs and embryos of as many as 40 women. All three have denied any intentional wrongdoing.
In addition to the three doctors, others named in the suit are: the UC Board of Regents, UCI Medical Center, the UC Irvine Center for Reproductive Health, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center where Balmeceda directed a clinic, and a host of former fertility clinic employees.
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