from the left-the-freezer-door-open-again dept.
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.
Related Stories
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...?
- How cryostorage is supposed to protect embryos like those possibly damaged at 2 fertility clinics
- Proposed class action lawsuit filed against UH for egg, embryo freezer malfunction
Previously: Freezer Malfunction May Have Damaged Up to 2,000 Frozen Eggs and Embryos
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
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday March 10 2018, @07:16PM (12 children)
Considering that such things are commonly stored before undergoing fertility-destroying medical treatments, this would seem to be a pretty major deal. How do you make such a thing right by your customers if you just destroyed their "insurance"? A full refund for the storage costs to date would seem like a not unreasonable place to start.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @07:33PM (1 child)
Eggs and sperm from living people may be created from stem cells. It has been shown that sperm can be made from skin. No, this won't be cheap.
Dead people are more trouble. Find the sequence from personal belongings or infer it from close relatives and physical appearance. Take cells from close relatives, then mix and match until all the chromosomes are correct. This may require some engineering work.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:12PM
She screamed. Oh, did she scream. But the more she screamed, the more disgusting the man's grin became and the more violence he dispensed; it was a negative feedback loop for the woman, but a very, very positive one for the man. This eventually culminated in a bone-chilling crack.
Minutes later, a bystander spotted a man performing a childish dance near the corpse of a naked woman; he had reached the pinnacle of happiness, causing all who saw him to smile.
(Score: 1) by cocaine overdose on Saturday March 10 2018, @07:40PM
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:02PM
Mother felt "physically ill" after hearing embryos possibly destroyed at fertility center [cbsnews.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Kell on Sunday March 11 2018, @04:57AM (7 children)
This just cuts a knife to my heart. I had cells frozen prior to surgery that rendered me infertile - I've got plenty stored up, but if they were suddenly wiped out... I will never be a parent I don't even want to think of it. Time to start the IVF sooner rather than later, I think.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 11 2018, @06:38AM (4 children)
If you are in that position - then why on earth do you have all of your cells relying on a single point of failure? That point has been made already in this discussion. Demand that half of your cells be maintained in some other location. For added insurance, demand that your cells be stored in 4 or more locations.
Of course, if the aliens invade tomorrow, and nuke us into the stone age, no number of locations on earth will ensure survival. Demand lunar storage!!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday March 11 2018, @11:53AM
There's a term for that, specifically for cases like this. It's "in one basket".
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Kell on Monday March 12 2018, @03:37PM (2 children)
You're assuming that this is not something I have already done... I chose my fertility clinic in part because they did offer multiple storage locations for samples. But that doesn't mean that some systemic problem won't effect samples... pays to not be too long about it.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 12 2018, @03:44PM (1 child)
Fair enough. And, of course, even if you aren't relying on - uhh - "fresh eggs" from your own ovaries, the clock is still ticking. For my part, I was 32 when my first son was born. Here I am, almost 62, and the kid still hasn't grown up. I may never know my adult sons.
Bahhh, let me be more fair. My youngest son has matured pretty well. I don't know where he's going yet, but he is going places.
(Score: 2) by Kell on Tuesday March 13 2018, @12:00PM
Unfortunately, I wasn't issued the standard equipment when I was born, so alas my partner and I have to go through a surrogate. Convenient 'cus I'm career-focused, and he'll be a stay-at-home dad... and also convenient because it's not limited by my age (I'm late thirties) - our surrogate is younger. On the down side, it means I won't get that most basic of experiences: carrying my own child. Sigh.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @04:11PM (1 child)
You won't be a parent if no one will take your sperm either. And supposing you had someone who would, the recipients time window is much shorter than the time some people have had their sperm stored.
Fish or cut bait. You want to be a parent bad enough to end up with a mongoloid?
(Score: 2) by Kell on Monday March 12 2018, @03:39PM
Well, you have no idea what my age or marital status is. Yes, I have a partner for my cells, and no age isn't a factor (at least, not in the near few years). Practically everyone who goes down this path gets educated on the exigencies of the situation.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:16PM
Either no one checked Saturday afternoon before leaving, or the unit couldn't even keep them cold secure for 24 hours?
No backup unit?
Yup: popcorn and lawsuits ensue.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Touché) by idiot_king on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:37PM (3 children)
...you hear that silence?
That's all the so-called Pro-Lifers not crying out in agony over 2,000 "dead children."
That's also the silence of the lack of protests over this horrible slaughter by the medial-industrial big biz monster (eeeek!).
I love that silence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @12:48AM (2 children)
The difference is like that between a car accident and purposely running somebody down with a car.
Now, if it turns out that somebody purposely caused the freezer to fail, the pro-lifers will indeed be pissed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @01:17AM (1 child)
FTFY
A lot of the pro-lifers motivation is trying to control women's rights.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @01:47AM
You discount the real motivation because it is invalid in your worldview, but there must be a motivation, so you invent one that is valid in your worldview.
I'm sure you have a great explanation for all the women who are pro-life. It'll be something like an abusive relationship, am I right?
You might as well say: a lot of anti-rape motivation is trying to control men's rights. That makes just as much sense. We can just focus on the restriction, because surely nobody is getting harmed, hmmm?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:39PM (2 children)
The last thing the planet needs is more people, especially Americans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @09:15PM
Can we get a best comment on the internet award over here?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 10 2018, @09:33PM
Nothing of value was lost. Stored since the 1980s? Nobody's been missing that DNA. The women who laid those eggs are past childbearing age. Do men care to have their sperm linger as potential child support bombs for 30 years?
(Score: 5, Informative) by pTamok on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:53PM (4 children)
I doubt that single sperm cells were stored, and when ova and embryos are stored, there's usually more than one of them, so my question would be - why were samples not split and stored in physically diverse locations? The press release itself says the malfunctioning freezer was one of two in the same facility. It would not be difficult to have an arrangement with another hospital so each provides diversity for the other.
Failing that, it also takes a while for liquid nitrogen to boil off. There ought to be enough excess liquid nitrogen in the system to allow passive cooling via boiling for the longest expected period that the facility is unattended. In a well engineered storage container, boil-off rates for liquid nitrogen will be between 0.5% and 3% per day [Look at the specifications here [panasonic-healthcare.com]]. Liquid nitrogen is cheap. If cooling by boiling takes place there are also level sensors that can raise an alarm if the level drops below a certain amount. Obviously you can also use temperature sensors, but the temperature will stay stable at the boiling point of liquid nitrogen until it has all vaporized, by which time the alarm will probably be too late. This is why one or several level sensors is a good idea.
In short, it looks like some pretty severe failings have occured.
Here's a description of storage at a different fertility centre: https://www.pacificfertilitycenter.com/treatment-care/sperm-and-embryo-freezing [pacificfertilitycenter.com]
And here's a bigger cryopreservation store for biological samples: http://thingsitellmymom.com/liquidnitrogenfreezer/ [thingsitellmymom.com]
And here's a catalogue of auto-fill cryo-stores, with specifications and prices: https://store.4cryo.com/Automatic-Fill-Liquid-Nitrogen-Freezers-s/1513.htm [4cryo.com]
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday March 11 2018, @12:37AM
Based on specs, it looks like if topped up and not opened, it should be OK for 11 days. It had to be practically out when they went home.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 11 2018, @01:47AM (1 child)
WTF are you even talking about? The word "diversity" has been over used so much, that it is losing meaning. Did you mean "insurance"? Or, has the word "diversity" come to include "all things good"?
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Sunday March 11 2018, @11:22AM
Apologies. I have spent too long working with people from the telecommunications industry, where diversity means 'having more than one path from one end of a circuit to the other end of a circuit'. The Wiktionary etymology [wiktionary.org] for 'diverse' gives a derivation from the Latin past participle of diverto “to turn or go different ways, part, separate, divert”, and I was using 'diversity' in the sense of having more than one way of achieving the required solution - in this case having two independent freezers, with samples split between the two.
The actual solution would require a risk analysis, and choosing which risks you wanted to mitigate. In theory, such an analysis would have been done and recorded. For example, having two freezers in the same room guards against failure of an individual freezer, but not against an event that destroys the hospital - such as a fire, tornado, or earthquake. Most companies that back-up their data will look to have two copies stored in physically separate locations, far enough apart that a single disaster is reasonably unlikely to destroy both backups. If you think of sperm, ova, and embryos as a form of data, similar principles could apply.
Thank-you for querying my use of industry-specific jargon.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday March 11 2018, @02:30AM
1. why do you hate profits and capitalism? Why do you want to kill them with the extra costs?
2. the question your raised is profoundly incorrect and irrevocable compromised by your pro-customer position. The correct question to ask is: why didn't they do it earlier but chose instead to support profit-eating costs for so long? Isn't the primary duty of a company to maximize profits?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by terrab0t on Sunday March 11 2018, @01:16AM
Even companies that run marketing websites for other companies have employees assigned to respond on evenings and weekends when there is a problem with the sites or servers. These people are responsible for potential lives and they have no automated system sending messages to someone’s phone in case of a problem.
Keeping all samples from a client in a single facility is stupid, but they would need either a second facility or a partner. No automated monitoring is archaic.