UH Fertility Clinic – Media Update
As our investigation of the UH Fertility Clinic situation continues, we are able to provide this update
regarding the most current information, which may change as we continue our review.
Our physicians and medical staff continue to talk and meet with patients about their care. To date, the five
nurses staffing our patient information line have responded to more than 900 patient calls, and call
volume is declining. Our physicians have personally talked with or seen approximately 400 patients about
their medical needs.
We are offering patients who had stored eggs or embryos with us an in vitro package tailored to their
individual clinical needs. We also will refund storage fees and will waive storage fees in the future for
seven years. A signed release will not be requested for them to obtain these services.
The units for these types of storage are complex, and it is taking time to examine all aspects of the
situation. Among the areas under review are:
 The storage tank and its individual components, which include a temperature monitoring
system; pressure monitoring system; and, computer software
 Alarm systems
 Security – both physical and cybersecurity
 Liquid nitrogen issues (the tanks use liquid nitrogen)
 Preventive maintenance
Since we have restricted key card access and monitor recordkeeping to these areas, thus far we have ruled
out any inappropriate physical access. We believe a hack into the computer portions of the equipment is
not likely, but we have not ruled it out completely given a similar occurrence at a fertility center in San
Francisco on the same day.
We are still completing the root cause analysis because of the number of components in the system that
must be analyzed. We already have purchased new storage tanks. The new tanks have new alarms from a
different vendor.
The same information that we are providing above in this media update has also been mailed to our UH
Fertility Clinic patients. Our primary concerns remain: 1) protecting the embryos; 2) supporting our
patients; and 3) completing a thorough root cause analysis. We continue to delve into the potential causes
of this situation and develop new standards to be leaders in this area.
We are aware that UH has been named in a number of lawsuits, some of which include allegations of a
class action. Consistent with our policy, we will not be commenting publicly about any pending
litigation.