There have been tears of relief for more than 700 former IVF patients after they reached a $56 million settlement with Monash IVF over their destroyed embryos. or signup to continue reading The landmark class action, led by Margalit Injury Lawyers, claimed about 35 per cent of embryos found to be abnormal through the company's flawed genetic testing were actually normal. Those embryos could have potentially resulted in viable pregnancies but they were instead destroyed, the law firm's managing principal Michel Margalit said.
"Some people will never have the chance to have a child because their embryos were destroyed," she told reporters on Thursday. "Some people have gone on to have years of additional treatment when it would never have been necessary at all." The $56 million settlement was reached after nearly four years of court hearings and ahead of the October trial.
The class action, lodged in December 2020, was seeking compensation from Monash IVF, Monash IVF Group and Adelaide Fertility Centre for patients' financial loss and psychiatric injury. The companies provided the non-invasive genetic testing of live embryos between May 2019 and October 2020, with up to 13,000 embryos believed to have been tested in that time. The class action claimed the non-invasive test was found to have a 35 per cent false positive rate, meaning 35 per cent of the embryos determined to be abnormal were actually normal.
It was also alleged company employees doctored the results of a clinical trial, forged patient signatures on consent forms and burned documents. Thursday's settlement provided some closure to class action members, Ms Margalit said. "There's certainly been a lot of tears and relief," she said.
"It is finally recognition that there was wrongdoing and that these patients, these group members, have suffered tangible, real harm as a result of their negligence." Monash IVF Group confirmed it had reached the settlement through mediation but noted it had made no admission of liability. "While we have defended the claim, we believe it is in the best interests of our patients and people to resolve the matter rather than go to trial," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
"We acknowledge this case has been challenging for many people and we regret any distress or hurt that may have been experienced." The settlement still needs to be approved by the Victorian Supreme Court, with a court date for that application yet to be set. Ms Margalit said the court would also ensure the settlement distribution scheme was fair and reasonable to ensure group members benefited the most from the $56 million.
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