CLAIMANTS' ADVISORY COMMITTEE E-NEWSLETTER

Dow Corning Bankruptcy Settlement

 

Volume 10, No. 7, November 27, 2013

Contact the CAC at: info@tortcomm.org or

phone: (419) 394-0717

fax: (419) 394-1748

 

Sybil Niden Goldrich

Ernest Hornsby, Esq

Dianna Pendleton-Dominguez, Esq.

 

This is the 104th e-newsletter (Vol. 10, No. 7) from the Claimants' Advisory Committee (CAC) in the Dow Corning bankruptcy Settlement Plan. You were sent a copy of the newsletter because our records show that you requested to be on the mailing list. If you wish to unsubscribe, click here or to reply to this newsletter, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org. Please do not hit "Reply" to this email address.

To contact the CAC, use the email address: info@tortcomm.org or dpend440@aol.com. You can also contact the CAC directly at 419-394-0717.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.      STATUS OF TISSUE EXPANDER RULING

Dow Corning filed a Notice of Appeal on the District Court's ruling recognizing tissue expanders as breast implants for purposes of the settlement. We are very disappointed that Dow Corning has chosen to appeal this ruling a second time, further delaying the processing of these claims.  We will post the briefing schedule and briefs on our website. We anticipate that the appeal process could take up to one year or more to complete.

2.      STATUS OF PREMIUM PAYMENT MOTION

The motion filed by the Finance Committee in 2011 requesting approval to issue partial Premium Payments remains pending before the District Court.  We do not know why the District Court hasn't ruled, and we do not know when the Court may rule. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require a District Court to rule on a motion within a set time.  We remain very concerned about the length of time it is taking to get a ruling on this very important issue, and we are considering all of our options, limited though they might be, in determining how to proceed.

3.     STATUS OF CLAIMS PROCESSING

We are happy to report that claims processing continues to remain current, with limited or no delays in processing most claims. 

a.       REMINDER:  The deadline to submit a claim for the $5,000 Explant Payment (Class 5 amount) is June 2, 2014.  This is just six months away. If you want to have your Dow Corning breast implants removed and be compensated $5,000 for that surgery, then you need to take action immediately.  It has been our experience that it could take several months to schedule a surgery, and then you must obtain copies of the Operative and/or Pathology Report AND submit the Explant Payment Claim Form.  Copies of claim forms are available from the Settlement Facility offices or by downloading a copy on their website (www.sfdct.com).  The Plan does NOT allow you to receive another set of SILICONE GEL breast implants once your Dow Corning implants are removed. If you do, you will not be approved for the Explant Payment.  The approval rate for Explant claims is 99% (Class 5).

b.      CLASS 7 CLAIMS PROCESSING - To date, 15,315 claims in Class 7 have been paid the Disease Cash-Out, Expedited Release, or Participating Foreign Gel Claim Payments totaling approximately $22.8 million.  The claims that remain are those that rejected the Disease Cash-Out Payment.  The SF-DCT informs us that claims processing for these claims is now complete.  There  remains, however, a group of claims that have been in the "Disputed Group." This means that Dow Corning has been questioning whether these claims should be processed.  The Claims Administrator and CAC have been in ongoing discussions with Dow Corning to resolve these claims, but we are not in agreement on these claims just yet. We remain hopeful that these claims can be resolved soon, and that the Claims Administrator will then file a motion with the District Court seeking approval to pay the remaining claims.

4.      STATUS OF CLAIMS PAYMENTS

Through OCT 31, 2013, the SF-DCT has received 80,357 Proof of Manufacturer claim forms in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (Dow Corning Breast Implant Claims).  Of this number, 65,931 or 82.05% have acceptable proof of at least one Dow Corning breast implant.  Of the 65,876 Dow Corning breast implant claimants with acceptable proof of manufacturer, almost 33% (one-third) or 21,928 women have been approved for a Rupture claim for their Dow Corning silicone gel breast implant.

CLASS 5, 6.1 AND 6.2

(EXCLUSIVE OF NOI PAYMENTS)

 

 

(DOW CORNING BREAST IMPLANT CLAIMS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLAIM CATEGORY

NUMBER OF CLAIMS PAID THROUGH OCT 31, 2013

PERCENTAGE OF CLAIMS APPROVED      CLASS 5  | CLASS 6

TOTAL $$ PAID IN CATEGORY THROUGH OCT 31, 2013

RUPTURE

21,928

71% | 40%

$     421,970,723.94

EXPLANT

28,974

99% | 96%

 $    140,252,885.07

EXPLANT ASSISTANCE

    646

92% | 83%

 $       3,192,579.10

INCREASED EXPLANT (6.2 ONLY)

   296

N/A | 92%

 $          885,000.00

EXPEDITED RELEASE

           24,441

92% | 88%

 $     44,918,688.26

DISEASE OPTION 1

           28,490

84% | 70%

 $   419,975,269.20

DISEASE OPTION 2

 1,455  

31% | 23%

 $   186,744,209.42

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

106,230

N/A

 $   1,217,939,354.99

 

 

TOTAL CLAIMS PAID TO DATE

10/31/2013

INCLUDES NOI PAYMENTS (DOES NOT INCLUDE STALE CHECKS)

 

RUPTURE

EXPLANT

INCREASED EXPLANT

EXPLANT ASSISTANCE (EAP)

EXPEDITED

DISEASE

MEDICAL CONDITIONS (IFBR, TMJ, IMPLANT FAILURE)

OTHER PRODUCTS PREMIUM PAYMENT

TOTAL

CLASS 5

$426,022,747.19

$141,032,482.87

N/A

$3,355,779.10

$41,164,204.41

$595,818,710.14

N/A

N/A

$1,207,393,923.71

CLASS 6.1

$14,037,750.51

$4,383,969.90

N/A

$12,000.00

$3,077,043.85

$8,418,218.48

N/A

N/A

$29,928,982.74

CLASS 6.2

$3,619,000.00

$241,000.00

$1,221,000.00

$0.00

$144,900.00

$2,482,550.00

N/A

N/A

$7,708,450.00

CLASS 6.2 2

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

$118,600.00

N/A

N/A

N/A

$118,600.00

CLASS 6.2 3

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

$505,800.00

N/A

N/A

N/A

$505,800.00

CLASS 7

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

$22,859,486.79

$0.00

N/A

N/A

$22,859,486.79

CLASS 9

$130,000.00

N/A

N/A

N/A

$1,762,145.10

N/A

$2,866,500.00

$14,215,000.00

$18,973,645.10

CLASS 10.2 / 10.2

$6,000.00

N/A

N/A

N/A

$155,850.00

N/A

$219,625.00

$1,050,875.00

$1,432,350.00

TOTAL

$443,815,497.70

$145,657,452.77

$1,221,000.00

$3,367,779.10

$69,788,030.15

$606,719,478.62

$3,086,125.00

$15,265,875.00

$1,288,921,238.34

 

RUPTURE

EXPLANT

INCREASED EXPLANT

EXPLANT ASSISTANCE (EAP)

EXPEDITED

DISEASE

MEDICAL CONDITIONS (IFBR, TMJ, IMPLANT FAILURE)

 

TOTAL

CLASS 5

21,443

28,503

N/A

678

20,794

28,538

N/A

N/A

99,956

CLASS 6.1

1,173

1,479

N/A

4

2,574

790

N/A

N/A

6,020

CLASS 6.2

517

132

408

0

207

615

N/A

N/A

1,879

CLASS 6.2 2

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

100

N/A

N/A

N/A

100

CLASS 6.2 3

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

843

N/A

N/A

N/A

843

CLASS 7

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

13,886

0

N/A

N/A

13,886

CLASS 9

26

N/A

N/A

N/A

1,763

N/A

476

498

2,763

CLASS 10.2 / 10.2

2

N/A

N/A

N/A

261

N/A

64

64

391

TOTAL

23,161

30,114

408

682

40,428

29,943

540

562

125,838

 

5.      DEADLINE REMINDER

Please mark your calendar with the following claim submission deadlines. Please note that these deadlines mean that your claim forms and materials must be received by the SF-DCT by the posted deadline. Please mail all forms early enough so that they are received by the deadline listed below.

Deadline Date

Type of Deadline

June 2, 2014

Explant Claims submission deadline for timely filed claimants in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (NOTE: this deadline does NOT apply to NOI claimants or Late Claimants)

June 3, 2019

Disease or Expedited Release Claim submission deadline for all claims in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (this deadline does NOT apply to Late Claimants)

 

If you would like to read prior CAC e-newsletters, they are available on the CAC website by clicking on "Electronic Newsletter." We urge you to visit the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org) on a regular basis to download or view relevant documents and read updates and new information. To contact the CAC, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org or send a letter to the Post Office Box address for the CAC at:

Claimants' Advisory Committee

P.O. Box 665

St. Marys, Ohio 45885

Phone Number: (419) 394-0717

Fax Number: (419) 394-1748

Email: info@tortcomm.org

 

NOTICE: This document is copyrighted. You are not authorized to post it on any website without express, prior written permission of the Claimants' Advisory Committee.