Seven months after uncovering evidence of egg and embryo misuse, UCI officials proposed a secret agreement in April that called for doctors at the Center for Reproductive Health to quietly resign, according to documents obtained Friday.

University of California, Irvine, officials also agreed to "waive any interest" in patient records, the clinic's frozen embryos and documents that allegedly trace egg thefts, correspondence between attorneys for the doctors and university shows.

Although Chancellor Laurel Wilkening's legal adviser at UCI, Paul Najar, attended the key April 14 negotiation session, the chancellor Friday said she was unaware of the university's offer not to publicize the resignations and said there was never an attempt by the university to cover up the scandal.

Wilkening said she did not publicize the allegations because she didn't know in April how widespread the problems were.

"I don't think that was our responsibility at the time," she said. "The doctors could have been right -- that it was just a mistake."

But at the same time, UCI was also cutting a deal to pay nearly $1 million to three clinic workers who exposed the scandal -- with the stipulation they would lose the money if they told anyone.

At various points in negotiations over the doctors' futures with the university, their attorneys' demands included stipulations the university would agree not to contact clinic patients; that the doctors would receive letters of recommendation from the university; and that the resignations did not need to be reported to the state Medical Board. State law requires that doctors who resign when facing an investigation must be reported to the board.

A March 28 resignation proposal from the center's attorney, Patrick Moore, then representing Dr. Ricardo Asch, suggests the university "furnish (the doctors) letters from (UCI Medical School) Dean Cesario and (Ob-Gyn Department) Chairman Garite about their accomplishments," and that the university keep quiet.

The talks finally broke down in late April, according to Ronald A. Goldman, a Los Angeles attorney retained by UCI.

Goldman said that after Drs. Jose Balmaceda and Sergio Stone backed out of talks, Asch wanted to continue. All the doctors have denied any wrongdoing.

Goldman said the university's offer not to publicize the proposed resignations was not a consession to the doctors.

"It was our own idea," he said. "The research investigations were pending. People might not be willing to talk if it was public. There was no particular purpose we saw" in making a statement.

But Linda Granell, then director of communications for the UCI College of Medicine, said making a statement would have served a purpose: It would have informed patients about events at the clinic, which continued to take on new patients for eight months after the university heard credible evidence of egg misuse in September 1994.

To "my repeated questions -- What are we going to do about the patients? -- the answer was `I don't know,'" Granell said.

"They didn't want to panic people. They were afraid."

University officials have steadfastly maintained that they first developed credible evidence of egg and embryo misuse in September, but believed it only involved a few cases -- "a half dozenish," said Executive Vice Chancellor Sidney Golub in a June interview.

However, at an April 14 meeting between lawyers for Asch and UCI, the university discussed 28 potential "problem" cases dealing with the obtaining of consent, said Asch attorney Ken E. Steelman. While the letters about the meeting do not mention eggs or embryos, Steelman said that was the subject of the discussion. Goldman, however, said many of those were cases in which records were missing.

Steelman wrote Goldman on April 28 asking that the university agree to protect Asch from future lawsuits. Goldman wrote back: "We are not aware of any existing claims arising out of the cases referred to in your letter."

Goldman said that at the time of the negotiations, patients were not at risk because the doctors were under investigation and the university had someone watching patients' medical records.

"My thinking was this: We didn't believe there was any imminent threat of harm to anyone," he said.

Granell recalls, "I was told to say (in a press release) the university had determined that patients were not at risk. I questioned that repeatedly, and was told patient health was not at risk. I said maybe their health was not at risk, but I really don't think I can say patients are not at risk."

The once-famed UCI fertility clinic closed June 2, shrouded in scandal. The three doctors were placed on paid leave as professors at the university. Asch has resigned from the medical staff. There are at least seven investigations into allegations of egg misuse and financial and research misconduct.

Starting in July 1994, documents show that attorney Moore had been attempting to force a quiet settlement of allegations, asking the university to stop investigations and never disclose the facts that have since come out.

In the July 26, 1994, proposal, Moore stipulated that "the university will forever terminate all inquiries, investigations, review or consideration of any of the ... issues." If asked about the investigations, the contract proposed, "the university shall state only that the disputed issues have been resolved."

Goldman said he "was hoping to resolve this without any chance of the information getting out to anyone. The response was, `No way.'"

At that time, Wilkening recalls, "I said he must be kidding."

In a Feb. 8 letter, Moore asked that "the university will not document our discussion in any way which may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act," through which the Register received these and many other documents relating to the clinic.

Goldman said his response to Moore's proposals in April was that "you're just not taking this seriously enough. You don't understand how significant we think this is."