A complaint launched by the pro-life group, The Center for Medical Progress back in September of 2015 has resulted in the shuttering of two California-based bioscience companies.
The CMP gained notoriety for releasing a string of undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s role in the aborted baby part industry.
The LA Times reports:
In October 2016, prosecutors filed a complaint against the companies in Orange County Superior Court alleging unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices.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.
Both companies, DV Biologics and DaVinci Biosciences were effectively banned from doing business in California as part of a settlement. DV Biologics will pay the state of California $195,000 in civil penalties and donate an estimated $7.5 million worth of “adult biological samples, tissues and cells to a nonprofit academic and scientific teaching institution affiliated with a major U.S. medical school.”
LA Times ctd:
Two bioscience companies have 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, prosecutors said Friday.According to the settlement signed Monday, DV Biologics LLC and sister company DaVinci Biosciences LLC, both based in Yorba Linda, must cease all operations in California within 60 to 120 days. The agreement also requires the companies to admit liability for violations of state and federal laws prohibiting the sale or purchase of fetal tissue for research purposes, prosecutors said.Also named as defendants in the settlement were company principals Estefano Isaias Sr., Estefano Isaias Jr. and Andres Isaias.“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. These companies will never be able to operate again in Orange County or the state of California,” Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said in a statement.
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