On June 10, 2009, the Court entered an Order ruling in favor of the CAC on the pending motion interpreting the “Disability A” dispute. Previously, the SF-DCT interpretation of a Level A claim (complete disability) would be the claimant would have to be disabled in the area of “vocation” AND “self care. The CAC pursued a motion before Judge Hood, taking the position that a claimant who filed a Level A claim (complete disability) stating that a claimant must document their Level A disability in the area of “vocation” OR “self care”, which is a much easier standard in which to prevail on a Level A claim.

The SF-DCT will now identify claimants whose claims are affected this ruling, and will notify these claimants if they now qualify for Level A payments. It is not known whether Dow Corning will appeal this ruling. 

IF YOU HAD A DOCTORS REPORT THAT WAS SUBMITTED AT A LEVEL “A”, AND YOUR CLAIM WAS DENIED AND YOU ACCEPTED A LEVEL B OR LEVEL C SETTLEMENT, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT MY OFFICE FOR A FREE EVALUTION OF YOUR CLAIM, TO SEE IF YOU WOULD QUALIFY FOR A LEVEL A, WHICH IS A $50,000.00 SETTLEMENT.

CONTACTING OUR OFFICE BEFORE THE MDL-926 (RSP) DEADLINE

Our office has been receiving constant phone calls requesting our representation for their claims which have been unresolved in the MDL-926 Class Action. Many of these claimants, who are “Current Claimants”, have a valid rupture claim, which will essential double their disease claim settlement.

However, unlike the Dow Corning Class Action, the rupture claim will not be paid until the Disease Claim is resolved. Most claimants are confused as to what their rights are, and have given up on their claim, because they are so frustrated after waiting for their claim to be settled since 1994. To make matters worse, the MDL-926 Class Action will be ending on 12/15/10.

IF YOU HAVE AN UNRESOLVED CLAIM, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT OUR OFFICE FOR A FREE EVALUATION OF THE STATUS OF YOUR CLAIM. WE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH AN ANSWER, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

Status of Disease Claims Processing

For Disease Option One (settlement range from $10,000.00 to $50,000.00) claims, the Claims Administer reports that there is approximately a 3-4 month backlog to review new Disease Option One claims. The backlog for re-reviews of RAI’s, which is reviewing additional information sent n by claimants to cure a deficiency) is approximately 5 or more months.

For Disease Option Two (settlement range from $75,000.00 to $250,000.00) claims, the Claims Administer reports there remains a significant backlog in reviewing new Disease Option Two, particularly claims for GCTS and Lupus. There is also a significant backlog of approximately 7 or more months to conduct re-reviews in Disease Option 2 claims.

Please be aware of the following claim submission deadlines.

Note that different deadlines apply to Notice of Intent (NOI) Claimants and Late Claimants. Most of these deadlines mean that your claim forms and material must be received by the SF-DCT by the posted deadline. If your claim form is not received by the deadline, you will not be permitted to file a claim later.

July 9, 2009-Cure Deadline for certain claimants who previously filed a claim for ACTD.

June 2, 2014-Explant Claims submission deadline for timely filed claimants in Classes 5,6.1 and 6.2. This deadline does not apply to NOI claimants or Late Claimants.

June 3, 2019-Disease or Expedited Release Claim submission deadline for all Classes 5, 6/1 and 6/2. This deadline does not apply to Late Claimants.

As many claimants know, our office is the only law firm left in the United States that “exclusively” represents breast implant claimants. We do not handle any other type of class action or personal injury claims.

We have received quite a few requests from other Law Firm to handle their breast implant claims, as they no longer want to handle their breast implant claims for several different reasons. Some of these Law Firms simply send their files to our office for a review , without first consulting with our office. Many of these files are large and we have limited storage space left, so all we ask is to contact our office FIRST before sending any files.

The Independent Assessor – who is charged with making recommendations regarding the adequacy of assets to make Premium Payments – issued an update for the fourth quarter of 2008. They basically said that they have reviewed the liabilities and assets of the SF-DCT as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2008 and estimates that the SF-DCT would remain solvent. They also stated that until patterns of filing and claims acceptance becomes more certain, use of the current estimate of determining whether Premium payments can be made is premature.

If the SF-DCT is required to re-evaluate all the Level B claims that were rejected at Level A (as per the Court's new ruling as to the proper definition of a Level A Option One claim), one would have to wonder if a substantial amount of additional payments are paid out to claimants, would this have any bearing on when or if the Premium Payment would be made. This is only my opinion and not based on any facts.

The Claimant Advisory Committee, which is doing a fantastic job representing the interest of all class members, will continue to work with the Finance Committee to urge them to recommend payments of Premium Payments to the District Court.