Claimants Are Waiting For Their Dow Corning Breast Implant Premium Payments
Advisory Committee For Dow Corning Breast Implants News and Updates
1. 6TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS RULES ON APPEAL
On March 8, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a ruling on Dow Corning’s appeal of the interest payment dispute.The appeal concerned a decision by the district court stating that Dow Corning was not entitled to a credit towards their payment obligations for the amount of interest earned on the Initial Payment to the Settlement Fund. The Court of Appeals issued a favorable ruling to the CAC’s position but unfortunately didn’t entirely resolve this issue. The CAC filed a Petition for a Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc, asking the same panel of judges or the entire court to reconsider its decision and to expressly rule on whether Dow Corning is entitled to an adjustment for the Initial Payment. That petition was filed on Friday, March 23, 2013. The Court of Appeals directed Dow Corning to submit a response by April 8, 2013.
Copies of the 6th Circuit’s ruling and the CAC’s petition are available on the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org).
2. STATUS OF PREMIUM PAYMENT MOTION
We do not have any updates on the status of the Premium Payment Motion pending before the District Court. We do not know when the Court will rule since there is no deadline by which a court must rule on a pending motion.
3. REMINDER: THE EXPLANT DEADLINE IS JUNE 2, 2014
The Settlement Facility will mail letters to Class 5 and 6 claimants on April 26, 2013 reminding them of the Explant Deadline of June 2, 2014.
What is the Explant Deadline? To be eligible for the $5,000 Explant benefit (Class 5 only), you must have your Dow Corning breast implant removed by June 2, 2014 and you cannot receive another silicone gel breast implant after that. To file a claim, you must submit the Explant Form and the operative statement from the Explant surgery. Only claimants in Class 5 and 6.1 (non-U.S. Dow Corning breast implant claimants) are eligible for the Explant Payment.
June 2, 2014 may seem like a long time away, but our experience has been that it often takes up to 6 months or more to schedule an appointment with your surgeon, schedule the surgery, and obtain the necessary medical reports (such as the Operative Report) to submit a claim by the deadline.
If your Dow Corning breast implant is not removed by June 2, 2014, then you cannot apply for the Explant benefit.
The approval rate for Explant claims is very high over 99% of Class 5 claims have been approved. The ones that have been denied are primarily because claimants were re-implanted with a silicone gel breast implant. Please remember that if you choose to get another silicone gel breast implant, then you cannot be compensated for the Explant payment.
Claim forms are available on both the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org) and the Settlement Facility website (www.sfdct.com).
4. STATUS OF PAYMENTS TO CLASS 7 APPROVED DISEASE CLAIMS
The CAC is continuing to work with the Claims Administrator and Dow Corning to finalize the process to issue payments to approved Class 7 Disease claims. All Class 7 claims have been processed and Notification of Status letters are pending with a small group. We are hopeful that a proposed order will be submitted to the Court in the near future and that this order will include resolution of the marshaling dispute. We will report more on this issue when everything is finalized.
All Class 7 Expedited Release Payments and Cash-Out Payments have been issued. The remaining payment in question is only is for claimants who rejected the Cash-Out offer, had their disease claim reviewed in full and are approved for payment.
5. PLEASE KEEP YOUR ADDRESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION CURRENT WITH THE SETTLEMENT FACILITY
It is very important that you keep your address and contact information current with the Settlement Facility. If you change your name, address or other contact information, please send an email to the Settlement Facility at: info@sfdct.com. Hundreds of letters and checks for benefits are returned to the Settlement Facility every year because claimants have moved and have not provided a new address. You will permanently lose your right to any approved payment that is returned and not cashed by the end of the Settlement Facility in 2019.
Also, if a claimant has passed away, their estate can still recover benefits. For more information, contact the Settlement Facility at info@sfdct.com and contact a probate attorney in the local area where the claimant resided. Before a payment for a deceased claimant can be issued, you will first have to be established as the court appointed Personal Representative of the estate.
6. CLAIMS REPORT THRU FEBRUARY 2013
The Settlement Facility has released information about the status of claims processing and payments through February 28, 2013, The information is summarized below:
The SF-DCT has received 78,600 Proof of Manufacturer claim forms in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (Dow Corning Breast Implant Claims). Of this number, 65,620 or 83.49% have acceptable proof of at least one Dow Corning breast implant. Of the 65,620 Dow Corning breast implant claimants with acceptable proof of manufacturer, almost 34% (one-third) or 21,907 women have been approved for a Rupture claim for their Dow Corning silicone gel breast implant.
Source:
CLAIMANTS’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE E-NEWSLETTER
Dow Corning Bankruptcy Settlement
Volume 10, No. 2, March 27, 2013
Contact the CAC at: info@tortcomm.org or
phone: (419) 394-0717
fax: (419) 394-1748
OCTOBER 8, 2013
Judge Hood has ruled on the Tissue Expander Issue.
It was ordered that the breast tissue expanders are to be included in the term “Breast Implant” under the Plan.
For help regarding your breast implant claim call the Law Offices of Fenstersheib and Berkowitz.
