UES Fertility Clinic Sued For Failed IVF Treatments: Lawsuit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side fertility clinic is facing a federal lawsuit filed by former patients who claim the facility's treatments resulted in numerous miscarriages and that the clinic even lost one of the patient's embryo's in storage for nearly two years.

Christopher and Nicole Mooney filed their lawsuit against the New York Fertility Institute this month in federal court for the Southern District of New York, accusing doctors at the clinic of negligence and the infliction of emotional distress and fraud, according to court documents.

The Mooney's first consulted with New York Fertility Institute — located on Fifth Avenue and East 83rd Street — in April 2015 for In vitro fertilization and underwent 13 egg retrievals and 15 embryo transfers with the clinic over the next four years, according to the New Jersey family's lawsuit.

The couple had a son through a surrogate in 2017 after multiple attempts at transferring an embryo to Mooney did not result in pregnancy or resulted in miscarriage. The Mooney's later tried for a second child with the New York Fertility Institute, which resulted in the clinic admitting to losing an embryo in storage for 18 months. After initial confusion over whether the lost embryo belonged to Mooney or another patient, the embryo was transferred to a surrogate but did not result in pregnancy, according to court documents.

After the mix-up, the Mooney's lost faith in the New York Fertility Institute and began treatment with another fertility clinic, resulting in the birth of the family's second son after the first attempt at an embryo transfer, the lawsuit claims. Doctors at the second clinic revealed that Mooney was receiving double the typical amount of medication while undergoing treatment at New York Fertility Institute. The new clinic also determined that the number of unsuccessful treatments at the New York Fertility Insititute was likely the result of flaws in "lab procedures, biopsy process or the general care of the embryos," according to court documents.

The Mooney's claim that Nicole's over-medication while being treatment at New York Fertility Institute resulted in "immense physical pain" and caused her to be "very sic" for two years. During this period, Mooney "could barely function" and suffered from dizziness, extreme nausea, fainting and skin reactions. Both Nicole and Christopher Mooney have also experienced emotional distress as a result of the New York Fertility Institute treatments, according to the lawsuit.

The family is demanding $75,000 from the clinic — the cost of the medical treatments — on the claims of negligence and emotional distress. Doctors at the New York Fertility Institute told the New York Post, which first reported on the lawsuit, that they were "shocked and surprised" by the lawsuit but declined to comment further.