Pacific Fertility Cases

I.

BACKGROUND

These coordinated proceedings arose following the failure in 2018 of a cryogenic storage tank, which was manufactured by Chart and used by PFC, a San Francisco fertility clinic, to store patients’ reproductive material. During the failure, the tank’s nitrogen levels dropped, causing the temperature to rise and potentially endangering the eggs and embryos stored inside. PFC patients and others affected by the tank’s failure sought recourse, resulting in hundreds of claims in federal and state courts and arbitration proceedings. A putative class action was first filed in federal court against PFC, Prelude, Pacific MSO, and Chart.2 (See In re Pacific Fertility Center Litigation (N.D.Cal., case No. 3:18-cv-01586) filed May 30, 2018.) As a result of motions to compel arbitration, and an ensuing appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, claims against Chart proceeded in federal court while claims against the remaining defendants proceeded in arbitration. The district court, however, denied the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. As

2Pacific MSO provides operational services and administrative support to PFC, operating its embryology laboratory and employing…