Balmaceda Sues to Force UC to Pay for His Defense

Dr. Jose P. Balmaceda, one of three physicians implicated in the UC Irvine fertility scandal, has sued the University of California, claiming it is obligated to provide for his defense against lawsuits by former patients.

The doctor’s complaint applies to two particular lawsuits, but may be expanded to cover the dozens of suits against Balmaceda and his two former partners, said Edward Susolik, one of the doctor’s attorneys.

Balmaceda’s complaint, filed in Orange County Superior Court, argues that the university pledged in a written contract to provide him with professional liability insurance.

“In good faith reliance on these promises, Dr. Balmaceda did not obtain private professional liability insurance,” Susolik wrote in a news release. “Now that Dr. Balmaceda has turned to the university to uphold his end of the bargain, the university abandons him.”

Balmaceda, Dr. Ricardo H. Asch and Dr. Sergio C. Stone are accused of stealing the eggs and embryos of scores of women and implanting them in others, some of whom gave birth. All three deny intentional wrongdoing.

The university has repeatedly argued that Balmaceda and his partners acted outside the scope of their employment, and thus are not entitled to a UC-funded defense.

But the university has been ordered to defend the doctors in at least two cases. Balmaceda’s attorneys recently won a fight to get his legal costs covered in a suit in which Balmaceda was not the treating physician. He was later dropped from that suit.

Balmaceda is now working in a fertility clinic in Santiago, Chile. This year, he was indicted on federal mail fraud charges related to the scandal. He denies these allegations as well, his attorneys said.