LONGWOOD, Fla. – The president of a Central Florida fertility clinic was disciplined by the state’s Board of Medicine, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and was sued by at least three former patients in the years before the clinic’s closure, records obtained by News 6 reveal.
The Fertility Center of Orlando, located in a Longwood office park, announced Monday that it would be closing its operations.
The clinic is owned by Dr. Milton McNichol, who has been licensed to practice medicine in Florida since 2004, state records show.
McNichol did not immediately respond to emails and text messages sent by News 6 to the Fertility Center of Orlando.
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McNichol was reprimanded by the Florida Board of Medicine and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine in 2024 after routine inspection of his clinic identified several violations, including equipment that did not meet current performance standards and missing risk management documents, state records show.
That same year, McNichol’s clinic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The business was later reorganized, court records show, but its outstanding debts have not yet been discharged.
A Seminole County man sued McNichol and the Fertility Center of Orlando last year for allegedly damaging or destroying his frozen sperm.
According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, the man provided a sperm specimen to the clinic for cryopreservation before he underwent cancer treatment that had the potential to impair or destroy his fertility.
The damage or destruction of the sperm caused the man and his wife “to lose the opportunity to conceive biological children together,” the lawsuit alleged.
[WATCH: Longwood clinic in hot water after ‘genetic anomaly’ baby dies]
McNichol and the clinic reached an undisclosed settlement with the former patient in January, court records show, with payment due to the plaintiff on or before April 1.
A Florida woman who claims she was implanted with someone else’s embryo and gave birth to a child who had no genetic relationship to her or her partner sued the Fertility Center of Orlando and McNichol in January, court records show.
“Of equal concern to the (couple) is the obvious possibility that someone else was implanted with one or more of their embryos and... is presently parenting one or more of their children,” the lawsuit states.
McNichol has not formally responded to the allegations in court, records show, but his attorney has informed the judge that the clinic is investigating the suspected embryo transfer mix-up.
An attorney who represents a surrogate mother sued McNichol and the clinic this month for allegedly implanting her client with an embryo suffering from “genetic anomalies”, court records show.
“Thanatophoric dysplasia is incompatible with life, and any child born with this condition either dies in utero or shortly after birth,” the lawsuit reads. “In this case, the child is believed to have died approximately 10 days after birth.”
The attorney who filed the lawsuit claims her client has a long history of mental illness and did not have proper judgment on whether to become a surrogate.
McNichol has not yet responded to that lawsuit in court.