Couple suing makers of recalled IVF product sold to local fertility clinics

SARASOTA, Fla. - It is one of the most precious journeys, starting a family. For those struggling to conceive, IVF may be their only option.

Now, dozens of couples say their emotional journey to become parents was destroyed by a defective medical product.

Embryos in the IVF process.

In a lawsuit filed this week, a Georgia couple sued CooperSurgical over a defective IVF product.

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The couple sought fertility treatments at a clinic in Sarasota, hoping to start a family.

Instead, their 16 embryos were destroyed.

They, along with dozens of other couples, are now suing CooperSurgical, the maker of a product used to treat those embryos.

"It’s expensive. It is physically painful. It is very emotionally draining," said attorney Patrick Johnson.

Johnson said his firm, Girard Sharp, represents dozens of couples suing CooperSurgical in individual cases and a federal class action lawsuit.

CooperSurgical IVF products recall announcement.

Johnson said his clients Brittany Lanier and Joshua Yarboro’s hopes of having a baby depended on the IVF treatment.

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The lawsuit alleges the promising future of a family was crushed by a defective product used on their embryos.

"When they found out that all of their embryos had been destroyed by the defect were just really devastated," Johnson said.

CooperSurgical manufactures a product that helps embryos grow. In December 2023, the FDA recalled batches of the product.

The lawsuit cites information that 481 bottles of the product were purchased by clinics in the US, and of that, as many as 20,000 patients could have had their embryos destroyed by the product.

Johnson believes these cases highlight a lack of regulation in the fertility industry.

A portion of the lawsuit against CooperSurgical for defective IVF products.

"Since it's such a new industry and new industries will always have some sort of lag between their innovation and when regulators start taking a closer example of them," Johnson said. "As we see defects increasing around the country, it just feels like it's a space that needs more attention to it."

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Johnson said that they had lost precious time trying to start their family in Brittany and Josh's case.

While most of their embryos were destroyed outright by the product, a few grew in ways that would be unhealthy to transfer, leaving them in a painful limbo.

"It goes against their religion to destroy an embryo. So they're in a really hard position of what to do with an embryo that they know did not really grow to a point to be viable to transfer because of the defect," Johnson said. "It's currently sitting on ice, and they are paying every month for that expense."

FOX 13 contacted CooperSurgical for a comment but did not receive a response.

CooperSurgical has filed a separate lawsuit accusing another company of failing to test the product appropriately.

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