An American fertility doctor – and current chair of the University of North Dakota OB-GYN department – is facing a civil lawsuit alleging he secretly used his own genetic material during fertility treatments without patients’ knowledge, reports KVLY.
An amended complaint filed last week names Dr Dennis Lutz as the defendant. The three patients named in the suit are Jean Ann Nelson, Tasheena Greaves and Janae Nelson Raymond – Greaves and Raymond being Nelson’s daughters, with DNA testing confirming Lutz as their biological father.
The alleged complaint occurred in the mid-1980s when Nelson was a patient of Lutz’s, and had sought fertility care from him at the Medical Arts Clinic in Minot.
She consented to artificial insemination procedures using anonymous donor sperm mixed with her husband’s sperm. This after Lutz told her that mixing donor sperm with her husband’s sperm would increase the likelihood that her husband’s genetic material would achieve fertilisation.
Court documents allege that representation is “generally inconsistent with basic principles of sperm competition and reproductive biology” – and that Lutz secretly substituted his own sperm during each insemination procedure.
Nelson did not consent to the use of his genetic material under any circumstances, according to the complaint.
As a result of the procedures, she became pregnant three times, the first pregnancy ending in a miscarriage, and the subsequent two resulting in the births of Tasheena Greaves on 14 February 1985, and Janae Nelson Raymond on 22 May 1986.
According to the lawsuit, the truth remained concealed until the plaintiffs eventually pursued DNA testing, revealing that Lutz is the biological father of both.
The complaint states that DNA testing has also revealed additional individuals identified as potential half-siblings, “suggesting that additional conceptions involving Dr Lutz’s genetic material may have occurred”.
The lawsuit raises “substantial concerns” about whether similar conduct may have affected other patients treated by Lutz during the same period and throughout his medical practice.
The complaint outlines eight counts against Lutz that include fraud and fraudulent concealment, medical battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of $50 000 each, along with interest, costs, and other relief deemed just and proper by the court. The plaintiffs also reserved the right to seek exemplary damages under North Dakota law.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Durban fertility expert fathered at least 5 children he helped conceive
Canadian doctor loses licence for using own sperm to inseminate patients
US sperm donor to 180 children slammed by Welsh judge
Class action against Canadian fertility doctor who used own sperm