PGT-A Embryo Genetic Testing Class Action Lawsuits

Justice Law Collaborative, along with co-counsel Berger Montague and Constable Law, filed class action lawsuits against multiple genetic testing companies for misleading consumers about the benefits and capabilities of the genetic test preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, or PGT-A.

The lawsuits are filed against the following genetic testing companies: CooperGenomics, Inc., CooperSurgical, Inc., The Cooper Companies, Inc., Reproductive Genetic Innovations, LLC., Progenesis, Inc., and Natera, Inc. They include the following cases: Weinberg, et al. v. CooperGenomics, Inc., et al., No. 2:24-cv-09505-MEF-LDW (D.N.J.), filed in the District of New Jersey; Donamaria v. Reproductive Genetic Innovations, LLC., No. 1:24-cv-09535 (N.D. Ill.), filed in the Northern District of Illinois; Cruz, et al. v. Progenesis, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-01789-JES-AHG (S.D. Cal.), filed in the Southern District of California; and Petersen, et al. v. Natera, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-07062 (N.D. Cal.), filed in the Northern District of California. Berger Montague and its co-counsel expect to file similar lawsuits against Ovation Fertility and Igenomix.

The lawsuits allege consumer fraud, breach of warranty, and related claims arising out of the defendants’ advertising and sale of PGT-A, a test which typically costs thousands of dollars not covered by insurance. Consumers are told, the complaints allege, that PGT-A increases the success of IVF and the chance of a healthy IVF pregnancy, decreases the chance of miscarriage, and reduces the time to pregnancy by screening the chromosomal makeup of fertilized human embryos for abnormalities. However, scientific studies have shown that PGT-A is inaccurate and unproven. Despite a lack of credible and reliable data proving the test’s capabilities and benefits, the use of PGT-A has increased significantly, generating hundreds of millions in revenue for genetic testing companies.

The plaintiffs seek to recover their out-of-pocket costs spent on PGT-A as well as statutory and other damages resulting from the defendants’ allegedly false and misleading promotion of PGT-A.

WHAT ISN’T BEINg oPENLY DISCUSSED ABOUT PGT-A?

  • Biopsying an embryo is not without risk. Embryos are highly sensitive and complex. There is no long-term study ruling out whether such a biopsy harms the embryo in a way that is discovered as one grows into adulthood and beyond.

  • PGT-A results are not trustworthy. Some studies (conducted by the companies themselves) have demonstrated a higher implantation rate for embryos selected after PGT-A, there is no reliable evidence that it improves your chance of having a baby, let alone a healthy baby.

  • Some experts believe PGT-A testing may even reduce your chance of having a healthy baby because of the unknown risks of damaging the cells, especially through biopsy and the freezing and thawing process.

  • PGT-A testing can result in false positives and false negatives. False positives mean healthy embryos are being discarded!

  • Results vary among laboratories. Laboratories use different technologies and algorithms to perform the test and read the results. This means one lab may find the very same embryo aneuploid, while another finds it “mosaic,” and another may find fine for transfer (euploid). There have been studies showing that certain labs have much higher rates of embryos considered euploid across all age groups. The frightening effect may be having high percentages of euploid embryos discarded.

  • Arguments in favor of PGT-A use in older patients (older than 35) lacks reliable scientific support. Older patients often have very few good embryos and thus very few options. Using a selection tool only takes options off the table. This is especially troubling when we don’t know whether the biopsy damages the embryo short or long term. The risks involved with freezing and thawing an embryo also carries risks that may be even more impactful on the ability for an older patient to have a healthy baby.

  • PGT-A testing in younger patients (35 and younger) in unnecessary. These patients have such a high proportion of euploid embryos that a test to select good embryos is not necessary and considering the cost and risk it certainly should not be promoted in this age group.

  • Marketing of PGT-A is false and misleading. Instead of telling doctors and patients these important facts, promotors and marketers of PGT-A claim that PGT-A increases your chances (sometimes as high as 70%) for having a live birth. This is false and misleading. PGT-A doesn’t do anything to improve the quality of embryos. Reliable scientific evidence that it increases the odds overall is sorely lacking to support such claims.

Why are the marketers and promoters of PGT-A spewing false and misleading claims? Because genetic testing, including PGT-A, is tremendously lucrative. Although that provides good news for the behemoth organizations that control the genetic labs, it results in little more than bad news for the average consumer. Additionally, the fact that private, for-profit clinics use PGT-A more often than academic medical centers is quite telling. Hedge funds rake in millions (if not billions) of dollars at the expense of vulnerable patients who want nothing more than a child.

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