Gloria Allred Leads Lawsuit Against Ohio Fertility Clinic

CLEVELAND, OH — Three women who lost eggs during a fertility clinic mishap will sue University Hospitals, they announced at a press conference on Monday. Their lawsuit will be led by famed attorney Gloria Allred.

"This is a very serious issue of reproductive rights," Allred said. "These are among the most vulnerable victims that I've ever met."

All three women are battling cancer and were relying on stored eggs and embryos to produce children. A temperature fluctuation at a University Hospitals fertility clinic compromised their eggs.

"I am a woman wounded. Robbed by cancer of my health and the body I once knew and robbed by University Hospitals of my future," Sarah, one of the women suing the hospital system, said while crying.

"They're doing everything possible to survive this new crisis in their lives," Allred said during the conference. She went on to say that her clients want to be "catalysts for change" so that "no other woman has to endure" what they did.

Last week, University Hospital's said the fertility clinic's storage tank's remote alarm system had been turned off. That alarm system was meant to alert UH employees to temperature swings. That alarm was off throughout the weekend, when the temperature fluctuations started.

"An alarm should have been sent and received. We don't know who turned off the remote alarm nor do we know how long it was off, but it appears to have been off for a period of time. We are still seeking those answers," the hospital system said in the letter.

The hospital system also knew there was something wrong with its storage tanks — specifically its ability to automatically refill its needed liquid nitrogen — and was preparing to switch to a new tank. Staff had to manually refill the tanks with liquid nitrogen during this time and it now appears that the liquid nitrogen levels were below what was needed.

"Indeed, the flagrant disregard for dreams and for our children has surfaced," one patient named Danielle said. "You better believe that now I'm angry."

For their part, University Hospitals has not shied away from taking public responsibility for the incident.

"These failures should not have happened, we take responsibility for them – and we are so sorry that our failures caused such a devastating loss for you," the hospital system said in its letter.

(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)