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posted by mrpg on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the fertil-ground-for-mistakes dept.

A second fertility clinic has reported a liquid nitrogen cooling system failure:

A San Francisco fertility clinic says that a problem with the liquid nitrogen in one of its storage tanks may have damaged thousands of frozen eggs and embryos, triggering calls and letters to more than 400 concerned patients of the Pacific Fertility Center.

The nitrogen level in one tank fell very low, according to Dr. Carl Herbert, the fertility clinic's president. Herbert told ABC News that an "emergency filling" immediately took place, and that the tank's contents were then transferred to a fully functioning tank.

The problem struck on March 4 — the same day that a similar cryogenic tank failure was reported in Cleveland, where the University Hospital Fertility Clinic is investigating "an unexpected temperature fluctuation" that jeopardized its tissue storage bank, where liquid nitrogen preserves eggs and embryos. That incident reportedly affected some 700 patients.

One failure: accident. Two failures...?

Previously: Freezer Malfunction May Have Damaged Up to 2,000 Frozen Eggs and Embryos


Original Submission

Related Stories

Freezer Malfunction May Have Damaged Up to 2,000 Frozen Eggs and Embryos 27 comments

University Hospitals notifies 700 fertility patients of freezer "fluctuation" and potential damage to stored eggs and embryos

University Hospitals has notified about 700 fertility patients and their families that the frozen eggs and embryos they had stored at one of its hospitals may have been damaged over the weekend when the temperature rose in a storage tank.

The problem, in one of two large freezers preserving specimens at the UH Fertility Center housed at the Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, was discovered on Sunday morning. It occurred some time after staff left the previous afternoon, according to Patti DePompei, president of UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital and MacDonald Women's Hospital.

The liquid nitrogen freezer held about 2,000 egg and embryo specimens, according to Dr. James Liu, chairman of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UH Cleveland Medical Center. Some patients had more than one sample stored, and some of the samples were provided as long ago as the 1980's.

Also at Newsweek.


Original Submission

Disabled Alarm Blamed for Ohio Fertility Center Failure that Destroyed Around 4,000 Eggs and Embryos 17 comments

In a letter to nearly 1,000 patients, University Hospitals in Ohio says that a tank's remote alarm system, meant to alert an employee to temperature swings, was disabled for an unknown length of time. That led to the destruction of around 4,000 frozen eggs and embryos, double the original estimate:

Hospital officials say they doesn't know who turned the remote alarm off or how long it was disabled. They also said they were aware the tank in question needed preventative maintenance. Some of the eggs and embryos had been stored there since the 1980s. The hospital's investigation is ongoing.

"Right now we do not know whether it's mechanical or human or [a] combination," said James Liu, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospitals.

He says he doesn't think anyone intentionally disengaged the alarm. "Because it is a computer, we think it's unlikely that there was any kind of external force that was working to hack the computer or anything like that. We think it's unlikely," Liu said.

Previously:
Freezer Malfunction May Have Damaged Up to 2,000 Frozen Eggs and Embryos
Two Fertility Clinic Freezer Failures Occurred in a Single Day


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:48PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:48PM (#651828)

    Look, fertility clinics became a thing at some point in time; they probably both bought freezers at the same time, probably from the same company.

    As with all of us, they just set it and then did forget it. Just like hard disk drives fail eventually, so do freezers. Well, they failed.

    Next time, have a protocol in place for dealing with such failures. Have another freezer ready to go, and be ready to make transfers.

    Back ups, folks. Backups.

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:02PM

      by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:02PM (#651857) Journal

      Your business revolves around long term storage, and you set and forget freezers? Looks a very Italian way to do business.

      The nature of the failure is the problem, anyway. There is no way such freezers are engineered in such a tight way to suffer a mechanical failure the same day. And if they were they should have been transported together and installed together in the same place with the same temperature, vibrations....

      A clock related bug, malicious guys, extortion, a couple who asked their old egg back to two separate backup clinics and having those making up the same excuse, the need for sacrifical eggs in some esoteric ceremony, mossad agents removing two samples of Hitler's genome, aliens, anything, anyhing is still more credible than a coincidental failure on independent systems within that bracket.

      --
      Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:53PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:53PM (#651831)

    So, I worked on a biological lab. We had liquid nitrogen delivered on more-or-less weekly basis (because it was actually used).

    When we would fill an isolated container with some liquid nitrogen (with a loose cap) it would stay cold for at least 24 hours.
    We even had pollen (plant sperm) banks, that were similar containers, with an isolated cap and those were filled once in a while
    that could stay cold a few days without much problem (we had a good technician that watched them, though).

    So, I'm wondering what they are doing different.

    As for failing freezers... yep, seen plenty of them going into error mode on Friday evening/night.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:04PM (4 children)

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:04PM (#651834) Homepage
      The first thing I would look at is to check what kind of clock the embedded controllors in those freezers have. One incident's a freak, two on the same day is starting to get fishy. Is there some kind of y2k problem? Had the fridges been in constant use for two and a quarter years? (as in https://www.cnet.com/news/windows-may-crash-after-49-7-days/ , but based on a 60Hz clock)
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:47PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:47PM (#651852)

        High-availability machines should probably be "rebooted" once a week or even once day, because those damn overflow errors aren't known until they've been running a long time.

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:05PM

          by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:05PM (#651859) Journal

          I once had a gaming server, never had a prob with it, rock solid. Then one day I check the uptime. Less than one day. I forgot I set a cron job to reboot it daily just in case.

          --
          Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by rleigh on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:13AM (1 child)

        by rleigh (4887) on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:13AM (#652067) Homepage

        For liquid nitrogen storage, there are no embedded controllers. They are double-walled steel containers with a few inches of liquid nitrogen at the bottom. They might have a temperature probe hooked up to a remote alarm to trigger an alert if the temperature rises.

        All the ones I used had a regular filling schedule, usually weekly, plus a daily visual check. The weekly fill was simple--add up to a fill line and you're done. The only way the tank can fail is if someone leaves the lid off for a extended period (which would trigger the alarm), or if someone forgot to check and top up the tank.

        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:32AM

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:32AM (#652124) Homepage
          Thanks for that info. Does sound like human oversight is more likely to blame, and that, even when thrown randomly, occasionally two darts will land in the same bed.
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:16PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:16PM (#651838)

    You didn't get the memo?

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:10PM (1 child)

      by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @04:10PM (#651861) Journal

      The was put where memos must be put, on the door of the freezer. But, being a new gen intelligent device, the freezer took the memo as an instruction and executed it. This also explains why only one freezer in both centers failed. They both feature faint adhesive traces on the door, I bet.

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:21AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:21AM (#652069)

        The memos were probably posted on the door that said "Beware of defrosting leopard."

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by captain_nifty on Tuesday March 13 2018, @05:47PM

    by captain_nifty (4252) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @05:47PM (#651898)

    I really wonder what kind of pricing and insurance policy they have on frozen embryos.

    I briefly researched the umbilical cord blood companies who save cord blood from newborns against some rare cases where it is medically helpful later in life.

    Looking at their fees and policies, they had a flat payout fee if due to technical glitches your sample was destroyed. Based on the payout numbers and fees and the low likelihood and long storage terms, I figured most of these companies would be profitable if they simply threw everything away and didn't preserve any samples and just paid out if/when people requested their sample. Needless to say I chose not to engage any of these services.

    I would be surprised if these storage places don't have similar pre set loss fees and hold harmless clauses in their contracts.

    Our society chooses to mask practical incompetence with legal planning.

  • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Tuesday March 13 2018, @05:59PM (3 children)

    by Osamabobama (5842) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @05:59PM (#651905)

    One failure: accident. Two failures...?

    The word you are looking for here is 'coincidence'.

    Of course, if another similar story emerges, I am willing to entertain the possibility of enemy action. I suppose if there were any matching eggs or embryos stored in those two specific facilities, that would also be interesting. How common is it for fertility patients to have off-site backups?

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
    • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:30PM (2 children)

      by bradley13 (3053) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:30PM (#651921) Homepage Journal

      Coincidence indeed. I remember reading a meta-statistical analysis about this kind of thing. If you have an event that happens, on average, once a year, we somehow imagine it happening in approximately one-year intervals. It turns out that statistical clumps - multiple events occurring close together - are actually the more likely pattern.

      Now, _this_ close together may be a bit weird. But two events really do sound like just a coincidence.

      --
      Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:41PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:41PM (#651925)

    Yes, I am the headline spelling Nazi.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:56PM (7 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:56PM (#651934) Homepage Journal

    Stu Rodrigues was very courageous

    Despite being condemned to a wheelchair he did "Sit down stand up comedy" in our high school theater

    After graduating he did the same in San Francisco's comedy clubs

    He only lived to be 28. Gone but not forgotten: the mayor attended his funeral

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:58PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 13 2018, @06:58PM (#651935) Homepage Journal

      It happened to someone else recently

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday March 13 2018, @11:40PM (5 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @11:40PM (#652056)

      Are you OK at the moment Michael?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:24AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:24AM (#652072)

        MDC is just fine. He's just posting in the wrong story.

      • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:55AM (2 children)

        by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:55AM (#652086) Homepage Journal

        -ems.

        I haven't practiced my guitar or piano in damn near a year. I regard that as quite a serious problem: "anhedonia" is a symptom of depression in which one loses interest in the things that make life pleasurable.

        I'm on what's mostly a good happy pill now but it hasn't unanhedioniad me.

        I'm way late on my Obamacare insurance. I have until May to pay off my balance due. I regard that as quite a serious problem because I've tied up all my USD$ into cryptocurrencies. To sell any of three of them would realize a substantial loss, whereas I cannot sell any of the other three because they are ICOs - Initial Coin Offerings - that are not yet complete.

        I had some good fortune with another ICO. I bought it at $1.00 then sold it at $3.00. I have the hope I can do the same with these three but for that to happen the ICO period has to expire, then the companies behind the ICOs have to convince at least one exchange to list them. Not every cryptocurrency succeeds in getting listed but these three I regard as legitimate.

        I'm totally smitten with a convenience store cashier so I stopped going to a real grocery store. This had the eventual result that I'm up to my eyeballs in plastic bags full of recycling - mostly Hungry Man boxes and trays - as well as having about ten milk cartons scattered around my kitchen that I drink with the hope that I won't die of malnutrition.

        To my dismay that cashier has a boyfriend and so refused my invitation to meet for coffee. Yet she is still quite friendly and always happy to see me. Maybe they'll break up in a few years.

        The cashier isn't the only one I'm smitten with. It happens from time to time that damn near everything I do is determined by the various women I have mad crushes on.

        But some really happy news: I think I've found a girlfriend.

        And some bad news: she lives in an entirely different country. Air fare to her homeland must be quite costly.

        Some friends have warned me that she was likely to be a scammer but after some online research as well as having spoken or texted with her many times I have concluded she's legit.

        But a _real_ scammer found me and quite bluntly asked me to "Go to Walmart right now" then buy her an "iTunes gift card".

        "Sure how much do you need?"

        "$300"

        "OK"

        "I like to help people"

        "You're such a darling."

        When I get home tonight I'm going to copy-n-paste the complete transcript into a complaint at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center [ic3.gov].

        I'm not going to report her to Facebook because I have the hope that if I string her along long enough, the FBI and Facebook's security people can track her down. While quite likely she's in a foreign land, some such lands are not lawless.

        Just today I grew concerned that I've just made myself a candidate for a mob hit. I'm going to lie in my Facebook profile and claim that I live in Walla-Walla.

        --
        Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:13AM (1 child)

          by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:13AM (#652100)

          I'm glad you're not too bad, other than the minor issues you're facing.

          I hope you don't get too enamored of the cashier, as she has a boyfriend, and might not take kindly to other suitors.

          The girlfriend situation can be difficult, especially if you've never actually met. You might like to take heed of what your friends say, as they will have your best interests at heart.

          I look forward to seeing more of your posts on Soylent.

          All the best.

          • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:33AM

            by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:33AM (#652242) Homepage Journal

            This evening I had a long Facebook Messenger chat with B.

            For all the lengthy chat sessions we've had, we have both been avoiding any mention of the elephant under the coffee table.

            She's heavily into posting Heart emoji's and Heart GIFs all over my FB wall. Here's one:

                  http://www.warplife.com/art/Teddy-Hearts.png [warplife.com]

            So for the last little while I've been sprinkling Heart emoji and Heart GIFs all over _her_ wall.

            I finally came to feel that while the following was quite risky, that it had to be done or neither of us would be happy:

            I have an important question for you. But perhaps right now is not the right time.

            Ask me.

            Right about here I was experiencing tachycardia. My mother and her twin sister both have pacemakers, and both take cardiac medicine. When my Tick expires quite likely the first symptom will be my own sudden death.

            Would you like to be my girlfriend?

            Yes.

            I later said "I love you". Quite a long time passed with no response of any sort. I puzzled over whether the Golden Gate Bridge was the right choice. As a known wingnut I'm not permitted to purchase firearms.

            Finally: "I love you too".

            There's more but I have the idea that by staying up all night I can get some quality time in on my side project.

            --
            Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday March 13 2018, @07:02PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 13 2018, @07:02PM (#651937) Homepage Journal

    https://cryobank.com [cryobank.com]
    California Cryobank

    Founded by two doctors who only invested $2500 each

    Now they both have the wealth of Croseus

    The son of one of the partners is a close friend

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:34PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:34PM (#651984)

    Rest In Peace, John Connor.

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:52PM (1 child)

      by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:52PM (#651996) Journal

      hee hee hee

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:47AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:47AM (#652129) Homepage
        Your pneumatic actuators appear to have a leak.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
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