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Assisted Reproduction

Update On Planet Hospital

By ⋅ April 8, 2014 ⋅ Print This Post Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment
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Rudy Rupak, CEO and founder of Planet Hospital

Here is an update on Planet Hospital, a medical tourism facility operating out of Southern California, which was recently forced into involuntary bankruptcy, leaving many clients in the lurch:

Planet Hospital, a popular medical tourism company that up until recently provided international surrogacy services, is facing a case of involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy from three former clients. The shutdown of Planet Hospital’s surrogacy services reportedly happened in December 2013.

The Bay Area Reporter couldn’t find any mention of the closure of the company’s surrogacy services on its website or through a web search.

Rupak “Rudy” Acharya, founder and chief executive officer of Planet Hospital, told the B.A.R. that he simply removed the service from the company’s website in January, but he hadn’t publicly announced the closure of the surrogacy services.

The sudden halt of international surrogacy services has left an estimated 30 sets of intended parents out of money and scrambling to secure their place in the surrogacy process and move forward with planning their family, said Catherine Moscarello, the former director of client services for Planet Hospital’s Cancun program.

Planet Hospital also assists people with traveling to other countries for other medical procedures.

Three former Planet Hospital clients, Jonathan C. Dailey, Garrett Warner, and Jay W. Sisam, filed an involuntary petition against Planet Hospital, based in Calabasas, California, under Chapter 7 bankruptcy February 18 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The petitioners are asking for a combined $79,000 in refunds of fees paid for services that Planet Hospital has allegedly failed to perform. The men are represented by attorney Thomas Schelly of El Segundo, California.

Acharya said he made some mistakes. “Unfortunately, I made some very, very, very bad decisions which resulted in a lot of people not getting their services at the moment, but I’ve been working diligently to fix that,” said Acharya. He didn’t agree with the forced bankruptcy proceeding, which could potentially remove control of the company from him and his management team and liquidate the assets. He believes it is “shortsighted” and not allowing him time to “fix the situation.”

Acharya pointed out that he is a Canadian citizen with homes around the world and could easily leave, but he is back in southern California working on correcting the situation and that he’s proud of his work, especially in the LGBT community.

Schelly wouldn’t disclose his clients’ sexual orientation. The B.A.R. was unable to contact the men who filed the bankruptcy proceeding.

But with more and more LGBTs creating families, Moscarello said at least three-quarters of the clients affected by Planet Hospital’s surrogacy shutdown are gay.

None of the gay former clients were willing to speak with the B.A.R. about their surrogacy experiences, but they have been active on Facebook, where Moscarello co-launched a closed Planet Hospital survivors’ support group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlanetHospitalSurvivors/. Two former clients, identified only as Rhy and Drew, launched a blog, http://0kayintheend.blogspot.com, documenting their surrogacy process and ultimately complaints and warnings against Planet Hospital.

There may also be a federal investigation into Planet Hospital. On the Okay in the End blog, Dailey, one of the men in the bankruptcy proceeding, posted on February 27 that he had received confirmation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that an agent is “ready to open his case in the San Diego office of the FBI against Acharyya ‘Rudy’ Rupak (a Canadian citizen) and Carlo Aldo Bonfonte (of San Diego, USA), business partners of Planet Hospital.com LLC, an active LLC registered in San Diego.”

FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told the B.A.R. that he couldn’t confirm if the bureau was investigating Planet Hospital.

One of the sad ironies? Planet Hospital’s motto was “A New Way To Care”….

Related Posts:

  1. Buyer Beware: Exposé On Planet Hospital
  2. Al Jazeera America Looks At The Planet Hospital Scam
  3. Bottomless Cesspool: Planet Hospital Clients Fleeced And Surrogates Abandoned According to ABC News Report
  4. Rudy Awakening: Rudy Rupak Sentenced
  5. Canadian Fertility Company Charged With Illegal Purchase of Sperm, Eggs and Surrogacy Services
  6. SurroGenesis Update & Word Of Caution
  7. Update On The Baby Selling Ring In India
  8. Update On Canadian Fertility Center Raid
  9. Update On The India-Germany Surrogacy Conflict
  10. SurroGenesis Update: Tonya Collins To Appear In Federal Court Today

Discussion

34 comments for “Update On Planet Hospital”

  • Rupak Rudy

    First of all, I am incredibly sorry for the harm I have done. I nevertheless did try to fix this situation. I even approached Mr Vorzimer with whom I have had history with to do a structured settlement but as he is not that kind of attorney he refused, I then tried with another attorney and that did not work out. The rest of PlanetHospital was running fine till I was forced to shut it down. I even took out $100k from my retirement to continue the surrogacy operations. I am proud of the over 18,000+ people whom I have helped. I am proud of the fact that I was the one who did the first gay surrogacy in the world when no one in India would touch it. I am proud to have done the first HIV+ surrogacy when even less people were inclined to do so, and I am proud of the fact that I spent over $30k of my own cash (not the company’s) to help make surrogacy legal in Mexico, even though this led to my downfall. I still maintain that had PH continued to thrive I could have made everything better. I have come back from the brink many times, I am resilient, but the universe has spoken and it is perhaps time to move on? Probably not. I accept that people were hurt and I will do all that I can to fix it because that is who I am. It may take some time as a result of this mess but I will do it.

    • Anria

      Dear Rudy
      For one, it would be very helpful if you return the $29,500 you stole from us. It would be most helpful if you take some of that $29,500 and pay the IVF clinic bills for the IVF treatments they performed and medications issued. Lastly, it would be very helpful if you just pay us back. No more, no less.
      Anria

      • Rupak Rudy

        I have not stolen anything from you, your case is being transferred to a new company who has agreed to take over the costs and continue the process in India for you.

        • Anria

          What lies. What utter lies! We told you we want nothing to do with that, and we cannot continue anything until the IVF bills were paid, you promised Rudy, you promised on Feb 24, 2014 that you will pay the IVF clinic within 2-3 weeks. It’s almost middle of April now and they have not been paid.

          We never, not once ever, agreed for you to Transfer our case to anybody else. My requests for even partial refunds have gone un-answered.

          I am sorry that you are facing hard times, but you can make this right!
          Anria

          • Rupak Rudy

            Anria, WE PAID for your donor, your donor’s meds, and more. All that is remaining is the IVF and shipping. For you to say that we have taken your funds and done nothing with it is not right, it is these ignorant and awful statements that have sunk us and prevent us from being viable. Nevertheless, I am trying to assist the best I can, regardless of the bankruptcy. I have not run and hid as you also accuse me of.

          • Anria

            Since we used a USA Donor, we paid everything apart from $1,750 for our donor. We paid lawyer fees, we paid the donor agency directly. nothing about our USA donor, apart from that one bill of $1,750 to the IVF clinic was paid by us. in addition to the $29,500 we paid you. That $1,750 I have to say was billed to us, and after I made you aware of it, you did pay it promptly. I have no qualms with that sum. Everything else we paid for ourselves, on our credit cards, as it was happening.

            Sincerely
            Anria

        • Anria

          Wait, what new company is going to take over the cost and continue the process for us in India? I remember saying we didn’t want to work in India, but come to think of it, this is the first time I am hearing of a company that is taking over the costs and the process entirely? I am by no means agreeing to this, but I am curious

    • Catherine Moscarello

      Rupak, please stop posting “I am proud of the fact that I spent over $30k of my own cash (not the company’s) to help make surrogacy legal in Mexico…” since surrogacy has been legal there for many years. So saying that means one of two things – either you are lying and you didn’t pay any money to “help make surrogacy legal in Mexico” or you are incredibly incompetent and didn’t do any research prior to offering service in Mexico. Both options portray you in a less than favorable light so either way, you should be ashamed of that fact! I do know that you spent $20k (and I would presume the source of those funds was not “personal”) with an attorney in an attempt to destroy FCC and Dr. Gaytan because they stopped doing business with PH due to your unprofessional behavior and your refusal to pay your bills. And we can both see where how that worked for you as your two closest allies, Geoff Moss and Lilly Frost have now joined the FCC family offering their facilitation services through Surrogacy Beyond Borders (SBB) with FCC and Dr. Gaytan. Although I actually agree with some of the things you said, you need to realize that you are not THAT resilient and that the universe HAS spoken – it is indeed time for you to move on.

      And are you really ready to talk about how “proud” you are regarding your treatment of the HIV + clients that trusted you to assist them? Because I was the one that had to deliver the heartbreaking news! I was the one that had to have the devastating conversation! I was the one that had to tell them that while you were saying … “oh, everything is on schedule, pick a donor, your case is moving along…” Geoff Moss was saying “Catherine, check with Rudy before you talk to those clients because although FCC was ready to work with those samples, IREGA is not ready and is not willing and I am working on getting something set up…” So in order to avoid these clients from requesting refunds, you and Geoff strung them along, making them think that their cases were progressing when you did not even have the ability to assist them! Those were probably the most difficult conversations I have ever had in my life and yet you come on public boards like this and try to tell everyone how wonderful you are! I think the term “delusional” is a perfect description of your response!

  • M Rhyannon Morrigan

    As a former IP who experienced Planet Hospital’s new way to care, thank you for posting this, Mr. Vorzimer

    • Rupak Rudy

      Rhy, you are an evil nasty excuse for a human being who is bent of destruction. There is NOTHING that I did on your case that merits the abuse you have put me through. You had two attempts, one resulted in a pregnancy but did not take. Unlike a few who have legitimate complaints you actually received services, you claim that your husband’s sperm was compromised you tried to create a wedge between me and Dr Feinman and HRC, you spent the lasck of life you have posting about nothing but me because you have no life of your own. You complained with the Attorney general and did not succeed, you complained to BBB and did not succeed, and now you are going after Lilly and Geoff who did nothing to you. I will get out of this Rhy, and I will continue my litigation with you.

      • M Rhyannon Morrigan

        I wish that I could say that I’m surprised by this vitriolic response. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Mr. Acharyya has responded to the concerns of his former clients with personal attacks. Name-calling and threats are not what I would consider the hallmarks of professional communication.

        • Donna LeDuc

          Not to mention that as a medical provider he is discussing your medical treatment on a public message board, in full violation of all HIPAA regulations. You should report him to HIPAA. It shows his level of professinalism

          • M Rhyannon Morrigan

            Thank you very much for the suggestion, Donna.

          • Brooke

            As a Physician Assistant student that is almost at rotations, I will tell you that he is in FULL violation of HIPAA! REPORT HIM!

  • Garrett Seibert-Werner

    Also as a former IP who experienced Planet Hospital’s Scam, it’s refreshing to see that Justice is being served and the LGBT WILL NO LONGER FALL VICTIM TO PLANET HOSPITAL AWARENESS IS ALL WE NEED..,Thank you Mr.Vorzimer for the post.

    • Rupak Rudy

      Garrett, YOU CANCELED YOUR DONOR THAT I PAID FOR 48 HOURS BEFORE YOU GOT ON A PLANE, How can you possibly call yourself the victim, you are the victimizer! If you did not want to go through with it, you cannot expect a full refund. Yes we did agree to an unfair settlement but by then it was too late and you pushed me off the cliff with your bankruptcy. I hope your children discover what a nasty human you really are. The LGBT community could NOT have had international surrogacy if it were not for me daring to do so, nor would there have been surrogacy in Panama or Mexico if I did not stick my neck out first.

      • brattieface

        if you don’t mind me asking, what month was that did the above cancel?

      • Sebastien Ledoux

        Simple question: Why be so mean to former clients?

        • I have never worked with Rudy Rupak myself, so I feel as if my response is fairly unbiased: I am completely mortified at the Mr. Rupak’s less than professional comments to his former clients. Definitely not the type of person I would ever want to work with, nor would I ever recommend to friends. Additionally, I am unsure on the reason he is not in being sued for posting private identifying information regarding his former clients previous cycles. This donation and surrogacy business seems all so shady, and I want no part of it anymore.

  • One of the good guys

    For years I’ve heard the stories about Rudy Rupak. First of all – Intended Parents, NEVER give a third party agent money that can and should be paid directly to the doctor or clinic. I’ve repeatedly seen this “model” that Rudy promotes/ed result in the IP being taken advantage of. There is zero transparency in this model of payment for surrogacy. The third party is adding on TONS of his own fees, and in this case, not paying the low sums to the doctors or clinics as he promised to do. Rudy belongs in JAIL. Period, end of story. Bankruptcy court is a slap on the wrist for what he has done to erode the trust of the entire surrogacy community, as well as propagating negativity among the media. Surrogacy CAN be done ethically and with full transparency, as some are trying to do. Shame on you Rudy Rupak, shame. The rest of us are here to pick up the pieces of failed dreams that you screwed up.

    • Rupak Rudy

      care to identify yourself?

      • One of the good guys

        I didn’t because I did not want to be accused of pandering for free advertising. Your responses speak for themselves. Your delusional responses to your former clients is incredibly sad. You still maintain innocence, when obviously, you did many many wrong things.

        • Rupak Rudy

          How does “First of all, I am incredibly sorry for the harm I have done. I nevertheless did try to fix this situation” fall under delusional response? I posted the truth about Rhy, Garrett etc. but they are not interested in that.

      • Crocodile Dundee

        Kim Hendrix

  • Garrett Seibert-Werner

    Had to cut and paste Rhy’s response…. Love Rhy and LGBT COMMUNITY AS YOU CAN SEE THE CLEAR UNPROFESSIONALISM IN THE RESPONSE FROM MY POST… POST AWAY TEAM;)
    “I wish that I could say that I’m surprised by this vitriolic response. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Mr. Acharyya has responded to the concerns of his former clients with personal attacks. Name calling and threats are not what I would consider the hallmarks of professional communication.”

  • brattieface

    I for one would like to know who in the hell gives money to a man standing in front of naked anime girls?

  • Claire

    This company is a complete scam and it’s owner is a scam artist. Search Google for either Rudy Rupak or planethospital to see what I mean. Apparently planethospital is in involuntary bankruptcy right now and Rudy is being investigated by the FBI and being sued by many different people who claim he flat out stole their money. It looks like Rudy is now trying to reinvent himself as some kind of start-up guru or something. Sad for someone who nosedived this company into the toilet and stole the life savings from so many people. A couple of sources: http://www.planethospitals.com/ and http://rudyrupak.blogspot.com/

  • manipalhospital

    These days it seems like every country in the world promotes itself as a haven for medical tourism. The reality is that in most cases they offer sub-standard facilities and limited skills/qualifications.In manipal international patient care as named as Best Hospitals in India

  • M Rhyannon Morrigan
  • Sebastien Ledoux

    By looking at the comments here, the only thing Rudy Rupak will do for the rest of his life is pumping gas…

    I’m not a former client but I’ll still google his name then and now to see what he’s up to.

  • VXV

    I’m glad that Rudy fuck is out of business!!!

  • MADRE

    SURROGACY BEYOND BORDERS CANCUN IT CLOSED …OF THE FUTURE OF THE BABIES ITS UNCERTAIN

  • Daisybug

    Justice has finally been served with regard to Rupak & the Planet Hospital disaster! Monday morning the judge in Rupak’s criminal case sentenced Rupak to serve 24 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised (strictly regulated) probation, pay a $10,000 fine and attend an entirely separate hearing scheduled in mid-September to determine the final amount of restitution that will be paid to the victims of Rupak’s criminal scam. It took us a little over three years but I hope this final outcome brings even the slightest bit of peace to those who suffered.

  • Rayan Mathew

    For World class medical Advise on various health problems. Visit: http://trivandrum.kimsglobal.com/

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