Camden firm sued over mishandled Parkinson's disease research material

By Michael Boren, Inquirer Staff Writer

POSTED: October 07, 2014

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is suing a Camden nonprofit, saying it compromised nearly 26,000 research tubes when a freezer door was left open in March.

The tubes of blood and other fluids were stored at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research along Haddon Avenue, and would have been used to study the causes of Parkinson's disease, according to the lawsuit. It was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey.

Fox's foundation, according to the suit, signed two contracts - one in 2010, the other 2011 - worth a combined $4.3 million to store the tubes at Coriell.

On March 28, the day of the incident, a Coriell employee allegedly found the door open to the freezer, where the tubes are supposed to be kept at a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius, or -112 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's unknown how long the door was open, but the thaw spoiled or rendered all of the tubes useless, the suit said.

Kenneth Marek, who is on the scientific advisory board of the New York-based Fox foundation, called the loss an "entirely unnecessary compromise of samples."

"We cannot overstate our disappointment that this incident has occurred," Marek said in a statement.

Coriell officials issued a brief statement Monday.

"We have learned of the lawsuit and plan to vigorously defend ourselves against the allegations," it said. "However, we have a policy of not discussing matters that are in litigation."

The Fox foundation, according to the suit, has spent more than $54 million on two five-year studies, through which some of the research tubes were obtained.

The foundation asks in the suit for the amount in damages to be determined at trial, but says the value of lost goods is "well in excess of $75,000."

Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991. He rose to fame in the '80s through roles in the "Back to the Future" films and on television as conservative son Alex P. Keaton in the sitcom Family Ties. From 1996-2001 he played deputy New York City mayor Mike Flaherty in Spin City.