Silicone Gel Breast Implants Class Action

2007 Update

The Effective Date in the Dow Bankruptcy proceedings was declared to be June 1, 2004, therefore the claims process is officially underway. There are some important things for breast implants recipients with prospective claims in the bankruptcy proceedings to know.

First, the opt-out deadline of November 29, 2004 has now passed and the Settlement Facility ("SFDCT") is reviewing the number of timely opt-out claims submitted. There is a 30-day period during which time claimants can change their mind and rescind their opt-out election. If you are in one of the settlement classes (Class 5, 6.1, 6.2, 7. 9. 10.1 or 10.2) and you did not submit a signed Participation Form by November 29, 2004, your claim is placed automatically -- and permanently -- in the Settlement Facility. You cannot opt-out at a later date.

CONSUMER ALERT: CONTACT THE FDA

On April 13, 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that silicone breast implants made by the Mentor Corporation should be available to women who undergo cosmetic breast surgery. Despite Mentor Corporation's approval, the controversy over long term health impacts is unresolved. Implants can rupture, and statistics show most will rupture within a few years. The need for surgical removal creates additional risks, scarring, and may result in permanent disfigurement. To express your concerns about their decision, you can contact the FDA at:

Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20857

1-888-INFO-FDA

Further Resources:

National Organization for Women Action Alert on Breast Implants
National Research Center for Women & Families' Implant Information Project
FDA Breast Implant Consumer Handbook
FDA Breast Implant Resources

Secondly, Lieff Cabraser has submitted Proof of Manufacturer ("POM") Claim Forms for most of our Class 5 clients, i.e. potential claimants with at least one Dow Corning silicone gel breast implant. For those claimants for whom Lieff Cabraser has received Notification of Status ("NOS") letters from the SFDCT deeming their POM acceptable, we have begun to submit your Explant, Rupture, Expedited Release, and/or Disease Claims. Please be advised that the SFDCT is a year behind in the reviewing and processing of claims, and therefore, payment of benefits is coming in very slowly.

Unfortunately, once we submit the claims, there is no way for us to know when your claim(s) will be reviewed and/or when your benefits may be paid. Be advised that even after Award Letters are sent by the SFDCT informing claimants that their claim has been approved for payment, the actual benefit check can take several weeks to reach us. Lieff Cabraser will call you immediately once we receive your benefit check.

Lieff Cabraser has filed Class 9 (Other Products) claims and is beginning to file Class 7 (Materials) Claims with the SFDCT. The SFDCT has indicated that no distributions of Disease Claims will be made from the Silicone Materials Claimants' Fund until each timely Silicone Material Claim is reviewed and evaluated under the Settlement Option selected and the one-year deadline to cure deficiencies, if any, has expired. For those of you who have a claim in Class 9, the Settlement Facility must review and evaluate all timely Other Products claims before distributing Medical Condition Payments to Other Product Claimants. Therefore, claimants will not receive a payment from either of these two funds in this calendar year.

Lieff Cabraser represents persons across America injured by defective products. Click here to submit your case.

If you have access to the Internet and would like to check on the status of your claim(s), the SFDCT has announced the launch of the Claimant Web Interface. In order to access your claim information please contact CAP at info@sfdct.com or 1-866-874-6099 or www.dcsettlement.com to request a copy of the Web access Authorization Form. The form requires a valid signature and your email address. SFDCT will then provide you with a username and password to use when accessing your claim information. Of course, Lieff Cabraser will be keeping tabs on all of our outstanding client claims, and we will call you as soon as we get notification of status for your claim(s).

Please note that you can also log onto the same SFDCT for some basic information and responses to "Frequently Asked Questions" that are written by the SFDCT. You may also speak with a claims representative at the SFDCT at (866) 874-6099.

	Our lawyers have years of experience successfully representing clients in personal injury cases.
	There is no charge or obligation for our review of your case.
	In death and serious injury cases, we are pleased to visit you where you live, at no cost, to discuss your legal rights and answer your questions.
	We have retained product safety and medical experts nationwide to assist our clients with their claims.

Because deadlines are now running and we may need you to sign paperwork relating to your claim(s), we would like to remind you to please keep us updated with your most-current contact information and to please reply to all correspondence in a timely manner.

Type of Deadline	Deadline
Rupture Claim Deadline for Class 5	June 1, 2006
Silicone Material Claimant Claim Deadline for Class 7	June 1, 2006
Class 9 - Other Products Claim Deadline	June 1, 2006
Breast Implant Expedited Release Claim Deadline	June 1, 2007
Breast Implant Explant and Explant Assistance Claim Deadline for Class 5	June 2, 2014 (Next Business Day)
Breast Implant Disease Option Claim Deadline for Class 5	June 3, 2019 (Next Business Day)
Class 6.2, Foreign Claimants, Option 3 Claim Deadline	June 3, 2019 (Next Business Day)

Please check back from time to time for further updates regarding our progress within the claims process. (Click here to contact us with individual questions or concerns.)

2005 Revised Settlement Program (RSP) Update (May 2, 2005)

For those claimants with breast implants that were eligible in the Revised Settlement Program (RSP) and may have already received some settlement benefits under the RSP, following is important information for you:

If you are a “Current Claimant” and have received the $5000.00 Advance Payment, you may still be eligible for an Explant benefit if (1) you haven’t already received it, and (2) if your implants were explanted after April 1, 1994, and (3) you did not replace with silicone.

You may also be eligible for Fixed or Long Term Disease benefits if you have one of the compensable diseases under the RSP. If LCHB already filed a Long Term Disease Claim for you and you have received payment(s), you may still be able to upgrade if your disease has worsened. You can contact one of our Legal Nurse Consultants to discuss your possible or existing Disease Claim. Keep in mind that the deadline for filing both Explant and Disease benefits or upgrades is December 15, 2010.

Note: Current Claimants were only eligible to receive Rupture benefits until December 16, 1996 and only as part of the Fixed Disease benefit.

If you are an “Other Registrant” and have received the $1000.00 Advance Payment, you may still be eligible for an Explant benefit if (1) you haven’t already received it, and (2) if your implants were explanted after April 1, 1994, and (3) you did not replace with silicone.

You may also be eligible for Long Term Disease benefits if (1) you have one of the compensable diseases under the RSP, and (2) you did not accept the $2500.00 Supplemental Offer. If LCHB already filed a Long Term Disease Claim for you and you have received payment(s), you may still be able to upgrade your Long Term Disease if your disease has worsened. You can contact one of our Legal Nurse Consultants to discuss your possible or existing Disease Claim. The deadline for both the Explant and the Disease benefits is December 15, 2010.

Note: Other Registrants are not eligible for Long Term Disease benefits. They are only eligible for Fixed Disease benefits if they qualify. Other Registrants are not eligible for any Rupture benefits.

If you are a “Late Registrant”, you may be eligible for possible Long Term Disease benefits only if payments to all Current and Other claimants does not exceed the Defendants’ maximum obligations.

Note: Late registrants are not eligible to receive Advance Payments, Explant benefits or Rupture benefits.

Dangers Posed by Silicone Gel Breast Implants

On May 1, 2001, researchers from the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health announced that they had found that when silicone gel spreads outside the border of scar tissue around the breast area, cases of fibromyalgia increased significantly. This is the first study of women whose implants were known to have burst. Fibromyalgia is a syndrome with no clear biological cause that results in generalized pain and tenderness, sleep disturbance and complaints of loss of mental capacity.

In October 2003, an FDA advisory panel voted to allow silicone breast implants back on the market after an 11-year absence. The vote was 9 to 6, and every plastic surgeon on the panel voted to approve the implants.

Thereafter, the Chairman of the advisory panel urged the FDA to override the recommendation because of safety concerns. Thomas V. Whalen, a professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, wrote to the FDA: "It is incumbent upon the FDA to demand that the manufacturer establish in a rigorous, prospective, controlled study that these devices, despite their established breakage and leakage rates, are safe in the long term."

Also "extraordinarily troubling," Whalen added, is the enormous costs that women face for additional surgeries and removal of broken or painful implants. "This is a public health issue of no small import that must be addressed should the FDA second this misguided panel decision," Whalen concluded.

On January 8, 2004, the FDA rejected Inamed Corp.'s bid to bring silicone gel breast implants back to the market, more than a decade after they were first banned amid fears the devices harmed women. The FDA heeded criticism that Inamed had not studied the implants thoroughly enough to settle questions on how often they break apart in women's bodies and the resulting health effects from leaking silicone.

In 2005, Inamed Corp. again petitioned the FDA to reverse its ban on silicone breast implants, claiming that silicone implants are less likely to break and leak than versions sold years ago. The FDA advisory committee, however, stated that there are still concerns as to their safety and voted against recommending approval of Inamed's implants.

Lieff Cabraser's Role in the Litigation

In 1992, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, was appointed to the Plaintiffs' Lead Counsel Committee to represent a certified class of up to one million women who had received silicone gel breast implants. Subsequently, we were appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC), and currently serve as co-chair of the PSC Law Committee as well.

We are active on all Discovery committees, and have played an integral part in the Dow Corning bankruptcy negotiations. We represent approximately fifteen hundred breast implant clients, who are either members of the class action or who are litigating their cases individually.

The class action complaint asserts claims in strict liability, negligence, and fraud; it alleges design, manufacturing, and marketing defects and seeks compensation for personal injury, emotional distress, economic loss, and medical monitoring on behalf of the class.

Lieff Cabraser was one of five members of the negotiating committee, which achieved a $4.25 billion global settlement with certain defendants. This settlement was renegotiated in 1995 after Dow Corning declared bankruptcy, and is currently referred to as the Revised Settlement Program.

Dow Corning Update

More than 95,000 women have received initial payments, explantation reimbursements, and/or long-term benefits. Lieff Cabraser also serves on the Official Tort Claimants Committee, having been appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee in the Dow Corning Corp. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Contact Lieff Cabraser

If you have any further questions or concerns, please click here to contact one of the members of the Silicone Gel Breast Implants team.

About Lieff Cabraser

Founded in 1972, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is an over fifty attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. For the last five years, the National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the top 20 plaintiffs’ law firms in America.

For our personal injury cases, we bring a team of experienced lawyers. Each client is assigned an individual lawyer. In addition, we have on staff multiple nurses, legal assistants, scientific analysts and case clerks to assist the attorneys. To learn more about our firm, click here.

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