Freezer malfunctions causing dozens of stems cells to be destroyed at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is apologizing to families after one of their freezers malfunctioned – causing the loss of their child’s blood stem cells.
Hospital officials say the stem cells were collected from several patients and were placed in long-term storage. In a press release the hospital says the cells are collected in the early stages of a child’s oncology treatment. They go on to say that if there are extra cells that are not needed they go into storage for potential use in the future.
The hospital says the exact cause was failure of the freezer’s temperature sensors.
In response to the incident, the hospital has replaced the freezer and upgraded their sensors and alter system, as well as double-checked all power supply sources. The hospital has also launched training for engineers on the new system.
A total of 56 patients were affected.
Stem cells are unspecialized and can be used to create other types of tissue and organ cells. As chemotherapy can destroy stem cells, harvested cells can be transplanted into a child so that child's body can produce mature blood cells once again.
The hospital has reached out to the families affected. The hospital says families who have not been contacted have not been
affected by the mishap. It has set up a phone line for affected families: 1-877-622-2130.