University Of California At Irvine

In the last three weeks, six UC Irvine students have appealed to the university's ombudsman for help, saying they have been arbitrarily stopped by Irvine and Newport Beach police officers who then photographed them. The students, all Asian Americans, told ombudsman Ron Wilson they believe police stopped them because of their ethnicity, Wilson said Wednesday. The students approached his office and not the police directly, the ombudsman said, because they feared repercussion.

Teri Ord, a biologist who worked closely with Dr. Ricardo H. Asch for more than a decade, testified here Wednesday that she suspected as early as 1991 that there were serious breaches of medical ethics within UC Irvine's scandal-torn fertility clinic. But she kept her concerns to herself even after leaving the university three years later.

Teri Ord, a biologist who worked closely with UC Irvine fertility specialist Dr. Ricardo H. Asch for more than a decade, testified Wednesday that she suspected as early as 1991 that there were serious breaches of medical ethics taking place within the university's once-prestigious fertility clinic. But she kept her concerns quiet even after leaving the university three years later, she said.

The chief auditor at UC Irvine has been demoted after an internal investigation of his office's operations, prompted by the university's fertility clinic scandal. UCI will move Audit Director Andrew Yeilding, 49, out of the top job as part of an effort to "strengthen" the office's functions, said Patrick Reed, who oversees audits throughout the UC system.

In the latest fallout from the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal, an attorney for the birth parents of 6-year-old twins said the couple is unlikely to submit their children to genetic testing requested by a former patient of Dr. Ricardo H. Asch. The former patient, Loretta Jorge of Corona, believes that the children were conceived with her eggs. But attorney Ron Stock, who was retained by the birth parents Monday, said that he has seen no documents substantiating her claim.

What renowned University of California fertility specialist Ricardo H. Asch allegedly handed to a Wisconsin zoologist was, by any measure, a precious gift. In a country where relatively few couples donate reproductive tissues for experiments, Asch bestowed 21 freshly inseminated eggs and three frozen embryos on Gerald Schatten from 1993 to 1994, UC San Diego officials say. The well-known scientist used them to probe the mysteries of why some fertility treatments fail.

Former UC Irvine fertility doctor Ricardo H. Asch is refusing to show up at a deposition scheduled for Friday in an Orange law office, raising questions about whether the doctor will continue testimony begun in Tijuana last month. Meanwhile, a former employee of Asch--whom the doctor has specifically blamed for "errors" in clinics where he worked--is set to be questioned under oath at the end of the month in San Antonio.

University of California attorneys Thursday asked for a court order to block public disclosure of information from depositions in lawsuits filed in connection with its fertility clinic scandal. University attorneys argued in court papers that the move was necessary to protect the privacy of patients, to reassure publicity-shy witnesses and to protect the integrity of future jury pools.

Attorneys for patients suing UC Irvine fertility specialist Ricardo H. Asch served notice Wednesday that they are seeking to have his unfinished deposition continued in an Orange law office later this month. But Asch's civil attorney, Lloyd Charton, said his client won't show up for the Feb. 16 proceeding unless the doctor's criminal lawyer wins assurances from federal officials that Asch won't be arrested.

Teri Ord is a biologist with only a high school diploma. For more than a decade, she worked alongside Dr. Ricardo H. Asch, learning her craft from an internationally renowned fertility specialist, who brought her with him from Texas to California. It was Asch as much as anyone, her attorney says, to whom Ord turned for guidance and insight. He was her mentor. And she was his indispensable aide.