Fertility clinic in octuplets case has low pregnancy rate

The suit said Kamrava required patients to pay in cash, which was given to Kamrava's wife, who "never entered the payment into the computer and never deposited the payment in the bank" so that Kamrava could avoid paying income tax on the money. The clinic kept two sets of books, one for insurance payments and one for cash payments, the lawsuit alleged.

Afshar also charged that Kamrava's office systematically defrauded insurance companies by double billing for procedures and by billing companies for unnecessary medication that Kamrava kept and then resold to other patients. The suit appeared to have settled in 1999, shortly before it went to trial.

In another case, Shantal Rajah, an embryologist from England, was awarded more than $300,000 in back pay, attorney fees and damages after working for Kamrava for less than a month. Court papers show that Rajah and Kamrava did not get along and at one point got into a fight over the proper heating of embryos.

Suleman's case has evoked fascination and fury among the public and the medical community, with many wondering how she will care for 14 children.

Suleman, who lives with her mother in a three-bedroom home, acknowledged in the NBC interview that she was struggling financially to support her six children before the birth of her octuplets. But she said she knows she will be able to pay their bills, especially after she earns her master's degree in counseling from Cal State Fullerton.

Suleman's publicist, Michael Furtney, confirmed the information about the food stamps and federal supplemental security income after two sources informed The Times of the benefits. Three sources told The Times that Kaiser has requested Medi-Cal reimbursement for care of the octuplets, which is estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Furtney declined to confirm the Medi-Cal coverage and referred the question to Kaiser, which also declined to comment.

She had denied that she was on welfare -- a comment her publicist later clarified.

"In Nadya's view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program . . . and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare," Furtney said. "They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare."

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alan.zarembo@latimes.com

jessica.garrison@latimes.com

kimi.yoshino@latimes.com

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Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Cara Mia DiMassa, Victoria Kim, Joanna Lin and Garrett Therolf, and researcher Maloy Moore contributed to this story.