Cleveland — It's been a month and a half since the fertility failure at University Hospitals. But some patients are saying they're no closer to finding answers about what happened.
That’s because their attorneys claim the hospital doesn't want them to.
UH has been very public in its admission that it's at fault and what's most important for them is to make their patients whole. But behind the scenes, we're being told they're doing just the opposite.
UH has put on the perfect face. Publicly apologizing, pledging to find the cause of the fertility failure, and supporting patients.
"We failed our fertility clinic patients. We're sorry. I'm sorry," said University Hospitals CEO Tom Zenty on the hospital’s Facebook page.
In private though, lawyers say it's just the opposite.
"We've been met with nothing but roadblocks and stonewalls,” says Attorney Chris Patno.
His firm, McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman represents about eighty UH clients.
He says, while they initially went to their Fertility Center because, like its website says, they felt they were getting individualized, compassionate care. Instead, they've been victimized twice.
First, after what happened at the hospital. Now again, because of its legal maneuvers.
"Who’s responsible for changing our future?" asked Wendy Penniman, who is suing UH.
Patno says that's been impossible to find out because the hospital's filed motions to delay admitting in court what they've admitted in public, to lump all the cases together, and stall the investigation by patient's attorneys.
"The further we get away from the incident itself, the more cold the trail of evidence gets. Evidence gets lost, evidence gets destroyed, trampled over, he explained.
All the while, he says, the Hospitals PR machine is making them appear like an open book.
"It's much better for a company to take responsibility, to look bad in the short term. Take the hits and work to repair it. If you don't take the full hit, you're never going to be able to start repairing it,” says Katherine Marusic, who specializes in Crisis Communications at Cleveland State University.
And repairing it is what UH promised to do.
"The way they are acting publicly is the UH I know. The UH I'm dealing with in court right now is a UH I wish that I had I never had the opportunity to meet,” said attorney Patno.
Meantime, Patno’s firm filed a motion for a default judgment against UH because the hospital did not respond to their lawsuit by the deadline.
Plants vs University Hospital Motion for Default by WKYC.com on Scribd
UH sent us the following response to our story:
“UH does not respond to questions about matters in litigation except to say that once lawsuits are filed, the process of responding to the lawsuits and the process of discovery are determined by the Judge or Judges assigned to the matters, and Rules of Court. UH has previously publicly reported on its investigation, and as reported, there have been additional independent investigations by the Ohio Department of Health and the College of American Pathologists. As stated previously, we will continue to provide our fertility clinic patients with clinical support and assistance tailored to their individual clinical needs.”