CooperSurgical Lawsuits Over Recalled Embryo Culture Media To Proceed Without Centralized Management, JPML Rules

MDL Panel disagreed with plaintiffs’ argument that consolidating the CooperSurgical IVF culture media lawsuits before one judge was necessary to efficiently manage the litigation.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has rejected a request to centralize all CooperSurgical embryo culture media recall lawsuits before one judge for consolidated pretrial proceedings, indicating that informal coordination between the parties is sufficient to move the litigation forward efficiently at this time.

The decision comes despite dozens of lawsuits being filed in various different U.S. District Courts since CooperSurgical announced a LifeGlobal IVF culture media recall late last year, following reports that the culture media was destroying embryos developed during costly fertility treatments, instead of helping them grow.

During in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryos are typically placed in a culture media, which is intended to promote the embryos’ development through the blastocyst stage, before being implanted back into the woman’s body to be carried to term.

Plaintiffs pursuing the CooperSurgical IVF culture media lawsuits each raise similar allegations, indicating that the manufacturer sold a defective and unreasonably dangerous product to fertility clinics nationwide, and failed to inform prospective parents about the risk that their fertilized embryos may be destroyed, and become unusable.

In June 2024, a motion was filed to centralize all CooperSurgical lawsuits over the recalled LifeGlobal culture media, indicating that there were at least 30 different complaints currently pending throughout the federal court system. Plaintiffs asked that the cases all be transferred to one judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for coordinated pretrial proceedings, to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues and avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different courts.

At the end of last month, the JPML heard oral arguments from the parties over whether the claims should be consolidated. However, earlier this month the JPML issued an order denying transfer (PDF), deciding the lawsuits over recalled CooperSurgical culture media did not require consolidation at this time.

“In these circumstances, we are of the view that informal cooperation and coordination among the parties and involved courts are adequate alternatives to centralization that should work to minimize any duplication in pretrial proceedings,” said Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, Acting Chair of the JPML, noting in the order that all the actions are pending in just three districts, with most plaintiffs represented by two law firms.

The decision means that, for the time being, the cases will proceed independently in their originating districts. However, that may change in the future depending on the number of cases filed, and how many different districts they are filed within.

As more former fertility patients learn that their embryos may have been destroyed by the CooperSurgical culture media, it is expected that the size and scope of the litigation will continue to grow over the next year.