Farmingdale, N.J.-based MedAssure Services, a private medical-waste disposal company that operates in 12 states, has been fined for accepting fetal tissue, according to a report from The Indianapolis Star.
Here are three things to know about the issue.
1. During the past four years, the company in Indiana accepted three to six 31-gallon containers each week from Pathology Services, a Missouri lab that services Planned Parenthood, according to the report. In some of those containers was fetal tissue, in violation of the company's solid waste permit, according to the report, which cites a settlement the company signed Feb. 16 with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
2. Courtney Arangoan, an environmental management department spokeswoman, told The Indianapolis Star, the company was fined $11,250 but will only have to pay $9,000 because it cooperated with the investigation.
3. MedAssure contends that receiving the material was unintentional. "This particular customer became a customer through an acquisition," Joe Delloiacovo, executive vice president of regulatory affairs for MedAssure said, according to The Indianapolis Star. "We tried to make sure we did not pick up any abortion clinics as a result of that acquisition. We were unaware that Pathology Services was actually servicing Planned Parenthood."