Center for Medical Progress first filed complaint in 2015
By Dave Andrusko
The Los Angeles Times has reported that DV Biologics LLC and its sister company DaVinci Biosciences LLC, has reached “a $7.785-million settlement with the Orange County district attorney’s office over allegations that they illegally sold fetal tissue to companies around the world,” according to prosecutors.
“This settlement seized all profits from DV Biologics and DaVinci Biosciences, which they acquired by viewing body parts as a commodity and illegally selling fetal tissues for valuable consideration,” District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement, according to Times reporter Daniel Langhorne. ”These companies will never be able to operate again in Orange County or the state of California.”
The settlement, reached Monday, was reported by prosecutors last Friday. Langhorne writes
The lawsuit accused the companies of illegally selling cells from fetal brain tissue for up to $1,100 per vial from 2009 to 2015, prosecutors said. Fetal tissue and cells were sold to pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions in Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom, authorities said.
It is not until late in the story that Langhorne explains the crucial role played by the Center for Medical Progress, headed by citizen journalist David Daleiden.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into the companies in September 2015 after a complaint was submitted by the Irvine-based Center for Medical Progress. The anti-abortion group gained national attention in 2015 after releasing a video showing Planned Parenthood affiliates discussing the sale of aborted fetuses.
In October 2016, prosecutors filed a complaint against the companies in Orange County Superior Court, alleging unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices.
The fine and the agreement to end operations in California within 60 to 120 days stem from the companies “admit[ing] liability for violations of state and federal laws prohibiting the sale or purchase of fetal tissue for research purposes, prosecutors said,” Langhorne reported.”
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