Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Sues Cord Blood Reg­istry for Exploit­ing New Par­ents and Ille­gal­ly Prof­it­ing by Mis­lead­ing Them About Their New­borns’ Cord Blood Cells

Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued CBR Systems Inc. (“CBR”) for taking advantage of new parents who want to protect their children. CBR exploits new parents’ love for their children by charging them, often at a steep price, to bank their newborns’ umbilical cord stem cells. But their services are largely worthless with regard to their advertised purpose.

CBR has repeatedly used misleading, emotional sales pitches designed to deceive parents into thinking that their child’s own cord blood can later be used to address many health complications that could affect their baby. Although CBR represents that private cord blood banking can be used to treat over 80 serious medical conditions, the odds that a child could ever use his or her own cord blood are nearly zero. Even more, CBR does not disclose that the overwhelming majority of cord blood transplants come from public blood banks or that the privately collected sample is not sufficient to transplant. Instead, CBR scares parents into believing that public banks may not have a “match” for their child, which diverts thousands of units of cord-blood away from public banks—where it is needed most.

Additionally, many major medical organizations like the America Medical Association recommend public cord blood banking instead of private options like CBR Systems. This is due to a lack of evidence on the utility of private cord blood banking, as well as the fact that public banking offers far greater values to patients and the public good. 

“Taking advantage of parents’ love for their children is reprehensible and illegal,” said Attorney General Paxton. “CBR has systematically put their greed ahead of consumers and the health of Texans, and it’s time for the company to face justice. The actions taken unfairly targeted new parents and were specifically designed to weaponize a parent’s instinct to protect their kids in order to make a quick buck. That’s unacceptable, and I’m filing this lawsuit to put an end to this deception immediately.” 

As part of the lawsuit, Attorney General Paxton is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief to hold the company accountable for violating Texas’s consumer protection laws.