The Latest: 2nd lawsuit filed over lost embryos at hospital

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on lawsuits against a fertility clinic over damaged embryos (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

A second lawsuit has been filed by a family that says their frozen embryos were destroyed by a malfunction at a fertility center in Ohio.

The Pennsylvania couple’s lawsuit against University Hospitals in Cleveland says they were beginning the process last week of transferring the frozen embryo when they later were told something went wrong.

The hospital estimates about 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos may have been damaged or destroyed by a storage tank malfunction.

The hospital has issued an apology after the unexplained malfunction caused temperatures inside the storage tank to rise. Hospital officials say the lawsuits will not affect an ongoing investigation into what happened.

Attorneys for the Pennsylvania couple say they spent eight years trying to have a baby and are devastated by the loss.

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7:30 a.m.

An Ohio family has filed a class action lawsuit against the hospital where officials estimate about 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos may have been damaged by a storage tank malfunction.

Amber and Elliott Ash, of Bay Village, say they had two embryos stored at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center’s suburban fertility clinic after Elliott’s cancer diagnosis in 2003. The couple has a 2-year-old son conceived through in-vitro fertilization, and hoped to bring him a genetic sibling.

The couple says their embryos are now no longer viable.

The hospital issued an apology after the unexplained malfunction caused temperatures inside the storage tank to rise. UH officials say the lawsuit will not affect an ongoing independent review into the malfunction.

The Ash family is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.

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